Cousins, and friends, and go-karts, oh my!!!

What a fun weekend! I think we did it all! Rachel and Mommy had some girl-time at the salon while the boys went to get Daddy's hair cut! We went to two birthday parties and a wedding! We also go to see the entire McMullan clan, except for Uncle Mike...What a fun time seeing all the cousins!! Here are some highlights of the weekend!

This is when I wish I had some photography lessons because I love my daughter's sweet feet! Although she still has little feet for a four "and a half" year-old, I think they have grown way too fast! At the salon, the sweet ladies put a rhinestone daisy on each big-toe! So cute!!

This is at Kena's (Stephanie's mom - Stephanie is married to Brooks' youngest brother) surprise 50th birthday party! Four out of the five (almost six) cousins isn't too bad! R-L: Halle, Jake, Rachel and Eric. Austin was sleeping!! Someday we'll remember to take the picture at the beginning of the day before they get all rough and tumbled! Oh well...

Awe, sis! Have I told you lately that you're awesome!? Doesn't he already look bigger than her!?

Here we go...all five! R-L: Eric, Rachel, Jake, Halle and Austin (got him still sleeping). So they aren't all looking, but at least they are all sitting still!! Half the battle...

Daddy and his kids! He's not proud of them or anything!!! And...they don't seem to adore him at all!!! What a precious family I have! I am forever grateful for such an amazing husband and such beautiful kids...inside and out!

So, her Daddy wasn't too excited to see this! But, Rachel LOVED driving...go figure!

Here is a clip of Rachel driving!! They had to chase her down b/c somehow she got away without a seatbelt on!! She drives just like her daddy...not in the crashing part! But, in the I pay attention to the road and nothing else, way! She wouldn't look at us at all!! This is too cute though! Goodness, just 12 short years and this will be for real...I'm not ready!!!!!

I love that they love eachother!! Rachel and Eric riding the horse...

Oh hey look! It's us!! Can't tell you the last time we got to have a picture just the two of us. I had to take it, so it's a little cock-eyed, but still! We are still just as cute, huh?! :)

Again...what is it about boys?

So, I have had our daughter at home with me for about four and a half years now. In that time, she has rarely been hurt. She plays...she plays hard! She gets little bruises and falls down. But, she never gets hurt to the point that I feel I need to call Lee (our resident family doctor) to find out if I need to go to the ER or not!!

Sweet Eric...oh, Eric! Some days while I work for dad, I will do my emails and notes while the kids are still awake. They are usually running around the house playing, coloring, watching a movie, what-have-you! Today they were in the room with me and playing on the bed. I thought for just a quick moment they were self-entertaining enough that I could actually sneak in ONE call! ONE quick little call. Well...of course, the client was actually home! So, I got to talking with him and all the sudden I hear a crash, boom and cry behind me!! I thought it was par for the course...Eric fell down and is crying...let me finish up the call and I'll tend to his broken spirit!! Next thing I know, the kid is standing next to me sobbing and has a goose-egg the size of Texas on his forehead!!!!! I quickly, and professionally, ended the call while trying not to panic at the size of the darkening and growing Mount Everest emerging on his head!!

I know I probably overreacted...but, this one was a doosey! And the kid wouldn't settle for a while, which just makes a mommy's heart ache!!! After a bit of ice, snuggle time and some Tylenol, he went down for a nap and I'm hopeful that Mount Everest will be more like Mount Norman when he wakes up. We'll see...darn boys!! Ya gotta admit, though, the ice-pack pictures are pretty priceless!!!

What is it about boys??

Boys are SOOOO different from girls! They are just genetically designed differently and I will debate anyone who tries to say otherwise. As a mom of a 4-year old girl and 2-year old boy, all I can say is - they are SOOOOOOOO different! Rachel is a much better self-entertainer. Eric needs constant rough and tumble attention. Eric is LOUD!!! Everything is about a notch louder than it really needs to be!! Rachel has never thought a toot or a burp to be funny. Eric thinks they are hilarious and finds much joy in his little "noises!" Most of this is pretty much textbook and I expected these differences (and am therefore glad we had Rachel first so that she can help entertain her attention-loving little brother). But, here is the thing I don't get...what is it about boys wanting to pee outside??? This is a trend I have started to notice among my friends boys. I never knew this about boys and Eric is starting to demonstrate this primal behavior...with no encouragement from anyone that I know of!!

Most days when we get home from the Y, I let the kids play on the new play set while I make lunch. The past three days in a row I have found a half (or all) naked boy straining and trying his hardest to pee outside!! Where did he learn this? Neither his mommy nor daddy have demonstrated this behavior. I know his sister does NOT potty outside b/c it is just too hard!! So, why? What is it about boys?? Here is my all naked boy I found outside yesterday. Now notice under the slide. There sits sister, calmly and quietly playing some game of make-believe school or lunch with her imaginary sisters. Then there is Eric...naked as a jaybird!! Oh my...

What a Week!!

Wow...I feel like the following should be at least three separate posts. But, this past week was so full that I'm finally recovering and just now getting time to write! So bare with me as I post about all of last week at one time!!

Last week was Vacation Bible School (VBS) at our new church. This was our first experience with VBS at Trinity and I have to say, it was fantastic. I'm hopeful that in the future, I will be more involved. But, this year I just sat back and allowed Rachel to go without me. I'm really glad I did because I was able to watch her really enjoy it without feeling responsible for activities and the other kids experiences! This year's theme was Crocodile Rock and focused on Moses' journey. I loved her stories and I can tell her favorite part was singing. She was SOOOO excited to sing at the week-end performance...she wouldn't even tell us what they were going to sing because she wanted it to be a surprise! Here she is...also, Rachel with Nathan our good friend with whom she has grown up!

We also finished two major projects this past week! The play set is FINISHED! We did it! And I have to say, I'm pretty proud of Brooks and myself! We worked hard and I think it looks pretty darn good! The kids definitely approve as they have played on it several times a day since we finished it. Yeah Mommy & Daddy!!!

However, playing on the play set EVERY day means LOTS of summer-time baths!! In the winter we can get away with skipping a day...but, shewy!!! Not after playing in the Oklahoma sun...here's Eric, after playing outside, enjoying a nice clean bath!!

The second project was Eric's big-boy room. He is officially sleeping in his big-boy bed too! He has transitioned beautifully into his new bed. We really thought he would be a challenge. But, he has only gotten out once and went right back in when we told him not to get out...of course, this one time was after a three hour nap and his sister went in and woke him up. How could that NOT be confusing!?!?! Anyway, he LOVES his new room and sleeps so well in his bed that we often have to wake him up. The pictures do NOT do his cute room justice!

To top off our week, we bought the long awaited "new car." For those of you close to us, you know that we typically do NOTHING quickly! We are the most delayed-gratification kind of people around. We took two years to settle on buying a new house. The car thing has been in discussion for just as long, though we finally started looking on New Year's Eve. Once we determined what car we wanted, we spent the last six months searching for the perfect one...the one meant just for our family. It was a process and we encountered some really great salesmen and some really snaky salesmen along the way. We have tons of stories to go along with it. But, the end result is that we FINALLY have our new car - a Saturn Outlook XR. We LOVE her!! She has yet to be named, though Rachel seems to think Penny will be an appropriate name for her. We'll see! Not the best picture to do her justice, but here is "Penny" the new McMullan family roadster!

Major Ouch-ee!

So, this past week Eric got his first BIG scrap-up. He's had numerous scratches and bruises...but, this one is a doosey! He climbed on TOP of his play car and Rachel decided to start spinning him and the car flipped over onto the driveway. I saw it from a distance - in that crazy slow-motion way that you see accidents happening. My brain was willing his head not to slam into the concrete and luckily it didn't. So, I didn't think much of his scraped up arm until a few days later when it started scabbing over! Poor kid...major ouch-ee! He is SOOO proud of it now though. He tells everyone that he "fell down."