Summer

Summer is slowly slipping away, though I was happy to see it arrive I am glad to see it go.

I love what summer offers my family.
Days for summer walks in the park, picnics, veggie gardens with tomatoe plants that never seem to bare me fruit.
Butterfly gardens that slowly wither away with the coming cold.
Monster ball in the backyard with Pop's.
One thing I do not like about Summer is Texas Summers!
Hot, Hot, Sweaty, Sweat, Sweat!
But with the days cooling off we have been loving what Texas has to offer.

One thing the boy's have been enjoying is riding their bikes. Which reminds me I have some adjusting I have to do to them.



After a nice evening ride its bath's and tea time.
They really love their tea set and the nice sweet treats that come along with tea time.



Mrs. Anne our beloved family friend and boy's teacher when they were in Preschool bought them a National Geographic subscription! LOVE IT!
They might be sneeking into mom's subscription before you know it.
See E looks all red and clamy. He just came in from a ride, now he's cooling off with a good book.



Again outdoors we go.
This friday we had dinner with John and Debbie then we all watched a movie.
Afterwards the boys wanted mamaw and papaw so they spent the night.
It was late, the boys were gone so Nick and I went to the Harbour bought an ice cream and watched boats come in from the lake. The lights from the boats were pretty, we sat, talked and complained that our ice cream was not all that great.
But looking into the dark lake brought us beautiful conversation, people watching, and I sat giggling at silly things Nick tends to say.
I love that he can still make me laugh.



Good bye summer. Again I anticipate your arrival, means I get my kids back from school full time.
But am glad to see you go and now I wait, wait for Fall to arrive.
Falling leaves, cool crisp smell in the air, pumpkin patches and sweaters.
Not to mention thats when my oven goes into full gear.

:(

Haven't posted lately because I'm sad with out my little ones.
I start the volunteering train next week so I can keep an eye on Zenny and Ethan.

Zenny is getting used to his new schedule which can be tough for him right now, he was used to his old one.

Little E is now best of friends with a little one he actually had class with at age 3. Their teacher told me they are such sweet friends...I'm glad.

I had Debbie for a few days this week and that helped. While in a store the other day I saw moms with little ones on their hips, helping their kids cross walk ways and buying groceries all in the hours of 8-3...I remember when that was me, now I will have to wait for summer.

Hopefully I will have the strength to leave my pitty party next week.
But I'm not making any promises :).
Now I am off to cuddle my kids, they've been getting extra's lately.

And they were gone...

Z started first grade and little E started Kindergarten.
They posed for me after they were dressed and ready to head out the door.
Little E looks nervous.







Outside, E still looks nervous.




I love this huggy picture.



Z knew the routine and walked ahead of us, he knew what to do.

(Look Karen the backpack! And look Aubrey the lunch box! they really loved them you guys you all did awesome!)




E now looks nervous and unsure...belly ache?

It's okay E, mommy's belly is achy too, not to mention sad.

Zenny walked right into class and chatted with his friend Ricardo then found his cubby and put his things up.

Yeah, I think he'll do fine.

E right in the door of Mrs. Mead's class (who's a wonderful Kinder teacher by the way).

Don't worry E mom will come back for another 2 hours to be with you...I think your mom's crazy.

Believe it or not, not having the boys with me was tough.

I decided I would make them a "Back to school" treat.

What a better treat than cake!

They loved it!

Not to mention they had another piece after dinner.

I think the "Back to school" treat will become our tradition.

Maybe next year we'll have a "Back to School" dinner the night before or a breakfast the day before.

That's something I will have to chew on. All I know is that it has to be special, something they will look forward to every school year.

Farewell to summer break.

My boys and I decided to say farewell to summer by having a bit of fun.
We headed to the zoo.
We had a picnic and then they played in the water area.

Z testing the water.



Playing tag then I asked them to switch games, with their luck they'd fall and hurt themselves. So they went with water hide-n-seek...thats a new one.

After our animal watching and OH SO BORING monorail ride!

They love it, I loathe it, but I sit in that train EVERY visit because they just think it's the greatest.

Look at Z's fake smile, he was upset with me because I wouldn't pay for a 5 dollar photo booth picture...5 dollars!!!

Our weekend continued with a birthday party. They rode water boats, played video games and Pop's taught them putt putt.

Nick kept telling Little E not to pull a "mommy" by swinging so high. When Nick and I were dating I had a habit of swinging this high and bonked him in the head with the club. He was not happy to say the least.
Nick, haven't you heard of forgive and FORGET!! Please Forget!! I hear that story even if we just pass by a putt putt course.

Our weekend ended with the arrival of mamaw and papaw from Florida. They could hardly sleep when we told them that when they woke up Mamaw and Papaw would be in the next room.

Z lazily rolled toward us in bed and said he couldn't wait to kiss them when he saw them.

Nick and I melted.
Our summer was mellow but lovely, I already can't wait to see what next summer brings.

When life gives you lemons......

Nope, no Corkill family vacation this year.
Clark Griswold would of had a cow.
But we made due with what we had, Nick isn't eligible for vacation yet and if he was Lord knows we don't have funds to throw towards a family trip.

I wanted Nick to have a vacation so what's a family to do????
Vacation OC style, noooo not Orange County...Oak Cliff.
We house sat at John and Deb's and made that our vacation.
A big house, King size bed that's oh so comfy, a pool at our disposable and our stay was 30 minutes from anywhere!
George Clooney in "O brother where Art thou" would call this place a geographical oddity.

Our vacation started with my sweet morning run and a trip to the bakery.
I then sat outside as the sun shone softly and ate me some grub.
(My trio of manly men were still sleeping)




Isn't that lovely below ??






My boys finally woke up to some sweet bread and milk.
Nick went to work just to make sure he didn't have any work to make up.
Little E and I took advantage of this lovely mature neighborhood and all its lovely shady trees!
If we try playing in our front yard early afternoon we would roast!

See in the pic...lovely trees.

E was super proud of this monkey.

I was proud that he spelled it on verbal ques.
Funny thing is his monkey looks like the sloth on Ice Age :).

Pop's home super early (no make-up work) and played with his boys.

My three loves.

Nick & I watched the boys play tag. He looked at them with a melancholy eye remembering when it was him and his brother on that very side walk that very age.

While my guys goofed around the front yard I made shirts!
Nick and I LOVE Rock-T's for the boys, but they are way out of our price range.

I saw some for 50 dollars on-line, insanity!!

Nick and Little E finished up some with some major side walk art work.
I wonder if John and Deb's nosey neighbor has had a cow over it yet..hee hee.

Zenny relaxing pool side.

Mom and Dad relaxing pool side.

Couldn't make up my mind on what I wanted to read.

Finish a Stephen King book I started like forever ago, browse Apples for Jam (this book always makes me smile), check out some diet recipes from a cook book Tonya let me borrow, or sneak a peek at John's new magazine.

Check out the crazy canon ball boys in the back ground.

Yes, we had a lovely vacation.

My Nicky & boys slept in late, I ran in a BEAUTIFUL neighborhood where everyone gave me thumbs up and offered their tree swings for me to rest if needed, Nick even took a nap in the afternoon...twice!! And we ate and ate and ate some more.

Aaahhhh Perfect family vacation.

Change

A online conversation with a new found friend got me thinking about who I have now become.

For as long as I can remember I was never your typical girly girl.
I loved to jump out of trees, pop wheelies on my bike and bugs, bugs and more bugs.
With the exception of spiders, those suckers make me seriously squeal.

My sisters called me bit anti-social and claimed I was cold at times.
I wasn't a hugger, I HATED mushy and only allowed hugs and kisses from my parents.

As a child I discovered my love for reading.
If you knew me back when, you could attest that I always had a book in my hands.
I read anything I could get my hands on, minus love novels. I quite frankly hated them.
Anything to do with sweetness and emotion made me say "Humbug!"

One thing Nick loved was I wasn't the girl who wanted to watch a mushy movie, give me action and give me guns!!

One thing that bothered him was I hated Christmas.
Like I said..anything sweet.
And I am sure it bothered him that I didn't want to have children.
Went as far as to making sure our first apartment complex was almost kid free.

Now 2 babies later and a strong marriage of 8 years I am a puddle of mush.
I used to call Nick crying when I saw something sad on television.
He even banned me from watching Oprah while pregnant.
I switched from scary and suspense reading to biographies that bring tears to your eyes (though I don't get to do much reading lately).


I watch a show where a child gets hurt and I cry.
A person's home burns down and they lose all their mementos..I cry.
It's gotten so bad my mom in law told me everything would be okay as she hugged me when my fridge broke, she told me she just didn't want to see me cry.

Bad people, I've gotten bad.

Now I find myself wanting to watch girly flicks (Time Travelers Wife here I come!!) and enjoying the hugs and kisses, wet ones from my boys are the best.

What happened to me?
What made the thick layer of crust fall off exposing this soft middle? ( Okay so some of that hard layer is still there I won't lie).

When did I go from a semi-feminist who didn't need a man to a stay at home mom & wife who depends on her sole provider husband?

It's funny how we change, how we evolve, how we grow.
How we become a person who if told a few years ago that this is who I would become I would of laughed....loud.

I love this version that loves hugs, kisses, baking, snuggling, chasing, sewing, mushy, cries at the drop of a hat kind of person.

Don't think I'd change a thing.

"It was the best of times, It was the worst of times."

The worst of times:

If your close to me you know my little family has been through hell and back.
Sometimes we feel like were dangling waiting for the next big kick.
Seriously, we get kicked in the groin so often I have resorted to wearing a cup..no joke!

Dryer dies...I have a clothes line! Then it rains a week straight.
Fridge dies, We have a new and better one! But it doesn't fit.
Aaaaarrrggghhhhhhhh.

But through it all God shows us there is light at the end of the tunnel.
I am far from being graceful during the hard times, its easier to whine and say "Why us?"
"Why now?"
But I have to say through it all I do feel closer to my family, closer than I have ever felt.
And Nick and I are so blessed to come from such a wonderful set of parents.
Things that may have bothered Nick and I in the past now seems petty.
We live to survive in the now.
We love our boys and cherish every moment, even when they drive me to insanity (which happens alot as of lately).
Walks in the park and saving for a special day now seems like the norm, we don't take sit down restaurants for granted.
Home made gifts are a must and I love making them.
We love creating at home and savoring meals cooked together.
This would have to seriously be the best of times in my book.

Well like I mentioned our fridge didn't fit.
But did we have to spend money on costly repairs?
Nope, Deb the builder came to knock down my wall....check her out guys what a woman!

During the process the boys became antsy so I stepped aside and we made putty.

They really loved it!

It's only 2 TBSP white glue and 1 TBSP of Liquid starch, add any color you like.

I'm not too sure about his recipe though...its pretty sticky.

Will report if I find a better one.

Being silly with Pop's. I tried to get a pic of him, he wanted to pose as Mr. Broom.

Then the big boys came in to do some sawing.

Pa-Paw pondering???

You did awesome! Thank you, I know you worked all day and were so tired.

I will forever be grateful to you and Deb.

TADA!!!

My fridge where it's supposed to be!

When Deb gets back from vacation she'll tape and bed, texture and I can paint.

And you know the best part?

I now have ice and Z doesn't have to get up from the table and move when I want to open my fridge!! :)

Album Favorites.

Not much to blog, week has been busy and hectic getting the boys ready for school.
While up night owling the other night I stumbled on some pics that sent me down memory lane.
I love to take pictures, I'm no pro but it makes me happy to snap away.
Pictures have so many stories to tell.


Nick having coffee.
We don't drink coffee but this particular morning I think we needed it, I can't remember what we were discussing over breakfast, I caught him mid lift.



Chocolate lips.
Z at a outdoor ice cream parlor.





Kids at the zoo.
I like how you can't really see the boys' eyes.
But you can sure see Presley's




Piper in the mister thingy at the zoo.
Sweet picture.





I REALLY love this photo.
Our uncle had a stroke a few years ago.
This is what the family did to help him gain memory.
Oddly enough I had the same kind of things up on my walls to help Zenon.



This one made me cry when I saw it.
I'm happy to report our uncle is doing better and funnier than ever!



Pill bugs!
I caught Hannah a few years ago searching for pill bugs.
Needless to say I was fully entertained photographing her.




At the lake house.
E taking a nature walk with his mommy.



Piper.
Easter a few years ago, I think she has a crab apple.






E in a cape and rain boots...Luv it! Plus the rain boots are on wrong !!



Z on a class trip, I just don't know which one.





Skipping rocks.
Pop teaching his boys the trick of the trade.



E watching his rock skip.




Z watching his rock skip.
Can you see the ripples in the water?




Lake house family trail walk.




Zenny swinging.




E pretending to be a bird.
He loves birds.




So many more pics I have to share. But my boys are up and need me.
In a form of "Mom I can't get this to work!" Oh my day has begun.
Hasta luego mis amigos (Later my friends).