How to Tire out a dog

Susie loves when they play ball in the pool!

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6IWbc2lXyw4

Book Release

Tonight (really Sunday morning at 12:01am) the latest Harry Potter story was released in book stores. Way back when the original 7 Harry Potter books were coming out pretty steadily, there would be release parties at the bookstores where everyone would celebrate and count down to midnight and the official time to sell the new books. In 2007 I went to the release party  for what we thought would be the last Harry Potter book.

(Me and Angie in 2007)

Tonight Thomas went with me, Joe, and Angie to the release party for this book. 

He had the time of his life! He got sorted into his house at Hogwarts, played a game with strangers who are also huge Harry Potter fans, got a lightning bolt face painted on, made a wand, got a necklace with his house badge, got a Harry Potter badge, and answered lots of book trivia questions. He also had his first frappucino and LOVED it!

Just for reference, here's my almost 7 month old Thomas back when the last book was released, and him today.

And both of us back then and today. :-)

I'm so glad I got to share this experience with him and that he had so much fun hanging out in a bookstore until midnight!

Pool games

The boys had some friends over to MiMi and Boonpa's pool this afternoon. They played and had watermelon and strawberries and Gatorade with fancy drink umbrellas. Their friends taught them a new game to play in the pool. It was a fun afternoon!

Our Pet Bunny

We have a little wild rabbit that visit our yard when the sun comes up and when the sun goes down each day. He is a cute little rabbit even though he nibbles on my plants. Timothy really, really wants to catch him and has chased him around the yard a couple of times. But the bunny is quick! He's the perfect pet. No maintenance!

Main Event

I told the boys to get dressed this morning and that we were going somewhere but I didn't tell them where. We pulled up at Main Event and they were so happy!

We bowled first and I barely won. Then the boys tried the ropes course. 

Poor Timothy got up there and got scared so he only made it as far as his picture shows. Then he turned around and came right down. He was d.o.n.e. 

Thomas did the whole course. 

After that we all played laser tag. My gun on my vest wasn't working so I sucked at it. Defective equipment! Thomas did great and had the best score of the 12 people in there. 

They tried playing pool next. Timothy couldn't use the stick so he just rolled the ball with his hands. :-)

After that, we bowled again and had lunch. Then went to Kohls for school shoes on our way home. It was a fun day! 

Crafting

This afternoon the boys did a little crafting.

Thomas found a book about paper airplanes and made several different versions. He had one paper airplane that actually split into 4 small paper airplanes when he threw it. It was really cool!

While he was working on that, Timothy got the grand idea of making a shirt out of paper for Brian. No idea why he decided to try to make a shirt, and I tried to talk him out of it, but he was insistent. So he made a giant shirt that Brian had to tape onto himself when he got home. 

Susie

The boys love playing football in MiMi and Boonpa's pool. Susie the dog LOVES it too. Every time the ball goes out of the pool, she gets it before they can. She watches them playing catch like someone watching tennis. Her head/eyes follow that ball very closely. Tonight she figured out that if they are standing close enough to the side of the pool, she can grab the football right out of their hands when they pull it back over their shoulder to throw it. They had to keep jumping out to get it back from her! They were cracking up. And I think Susie enjoyed it too!

Church singing

Today at church all the kids who went to camp last week were invited to sing their camp song on stage. I think our football players were the last campers to get back to the meeting every night, so Thomas and Timothy didn't really know the song that well.

They went on stage with everyone else but they both managed to stand behind other kids so we could barely see them! Thomas said he did that on purpose. (Mr. Embarrassed) Timothy was upset that he was stuck behind a bunch of girls and he said they were squishing him. (Mr. Performer)

Silly boys!

Lemonade Stand

These 2 made a lemonade stand at MiMi and Boonpa's garage sale today. It was only 25 cents per cup and they made a total of $32! They didn't sell that many cups to make $32, but they got a lot of really good tips for being so cute!

End of football camp

Tonight was the last night of football camp. The parents were invited to come watch and have a little block party afterward.

Thomas did really well. We got to see him pull 3 flags on defense and catch a touchdown pass on offense. 

Timothy stood on the field and chewed on the flags that were attached to his vest. There was no running or energy from him. So maybe football is not his sport. :-) At least we found out through an inexpensive week-long church camp. 

They both enjoyed snow cones and nachos and popcorn with their friends at the block party afterward. 

Pathology Report

No cancer found in any tissue taken at surgery. Hallelujah!!! I haven't officially gone over the report with my oncologist but my surgeon texted me this picture of it and says no cancer was found. So great news!

Fun with Friends

The boys had 2 friends over today before football so I got to watch them play and feed them all dinner. It's easy to do now when they are still young. I'm sure in a few years feeding 4 boys dinner will require a lot more than a package of hot dogs, buns, and Fritos. :-)

They are still loving football camp. Last night when they got home they both sat down and drew up football plays. They took them today to show their coaches and teams. God help them if their teams decide to try them out. I was so confused trying to follow what was happening just on paper!

Football Camp

The boys are having so much fun at their football camp this week! They sent me a few pictures and I found Thomas in some of them. Hopefully we'll get some more and I will have a few shots of Timothy playing too!

Football Nights

The boys started a camp at church this week. It's at night from 6-9 and they are playing flag football. They were so excited to go today. Timothy started asking at 9am if it was time yet.

They each have a friend going with them so that makes it even more fun. They got back at 9:20 last night and were still all hyped up so we got to hear about the whole thing while they showered and calmed down before bed. 

They are excited to go back tonight. I am so happy that they are having fun!

Nothing Day

Brian took the boys to church this morning. I watched it from my bed. They picked up my grocery order from Kroger and came home. We had lunch and played games. We watched a movie and some tv and played some more games. We picked up a little bit and put some things away. But for the most part, it was a big do nothing day around here. :-)

Baseball Clinic

Today the boys got to go to a baseball clinic at Minute Maid Park. They got to do all sorts of baseball drills on a rotation. The best part was being down on the field that the Astros play on.

Poor Timothy fell and scraped both knees during the first rotation, and he had to be talked in to continuing, but he rallied and had fun. 

Thomas said he threw 3 strikes during the pitching rotation. He was very proud of himself for doing that on the big field. 

They both had friends that attended as well, so it was a fun clinic. And Boonpa went to watch. 

Friday night swim

MiMi took the boys to her house this afternoon for dinner and swimming. They were EXHAUSTED when they got home.

Alexa

Brian bought what I am calling a robot on Amazon Prime Day. It's this speaker looking thing that answers to the name "Alexa." 

Do we need a robot? No. Does the robot help our lives in any way? No. But Brian likes technology. So we have a robot. 

Timothy asked her to tell knock knock jokes today. She told us about 4-5. Then he told her to put "chocolate Cocoa Puffs" on our shopping list. Check. Then he told her to play Katy Perry music. Then he switched it to Blake Shelton. Then it was "music from the 1980s". Then Christmas music. He asked for summer music but she did not understand that request. 

So yeah. A robot. On the kitchen counter. That tells jokes and plays music. Hurray!

Movies

MiMi took the boys to Chilis for lunch today. Then they went to the movies to see The Secret Life of Pets. They said it was funny and they saw their friends there so that made it even better.

Caretakers

I got to come home today from the hospital. These are my caretakers. I am in good hands. :-)

Surgery

I'm out. The surgery went well. The drains hanging out of me are totally gross and inconvenient. HGTV is channel 67 in my room. I will be able to survive. :-)

Games

We have been playing a lot of board games here lately. It is just too hot to be outside unless you are in a pool. So we have gotten good at Sorry and Apples to Apples and Heads Up. The kids have been working on chess and they have sucked Brian in to some weird game on their tablets where they breed and feed and care for dragons. 

Yes, dragons. And Brian is all in for this game. They are constantly comparing how much food they have and what kinds of dragons they have and what level their dragons are on. 

I think I'll stick with the board games. I kick butt at Heads Up. :-)

Simple Saturday

We had a nice, boring day today.

-We slept late after being out late last night at the Astros game. (Full disclosure: my kids hate sleep with a passion. They are professional sleep-haters. Sleeping late for them is past 7:00. Today they made it to almost 8:00)

-We went to the bank

-We went to Willies for lunch

-We relaxed

-We went for a quick walk

-We went out to dinner (it was a complete day of no cooking for me)

Astros

Tonight we went with our church to the Astros game. They had a lead, then lost the lead in the top of the 9th inning, then got a 3 run home run in the bottom of the ninth to win. So it was a great game.

We stayed to watch the fireworks afterward. Timothy always reminds us of when he was little and told us "the sky is dirty" every time he saw fireworks. We've told him that story enough that it's one of his favorites about himself. :-)

Ice cream and water slides

Today we took a quick trip to Brenham to do the best 2 things in Brenham: eat Bluebell ice cream and swim in the ice cream themed pool across the street from the creamery.

Timothy chose cotton candy ice cream and Thomas tried one called monster cookie. It was like cookies and cream but colored Cookie Monster blue. And it turned his whole mouth blue. But they both loved their choices. 

After they finished their ice cream, we went to the Brenham aquatic center across the street where they have a pool with ice cream slides and things to play on. It was super fun!

Timothy got to go spend the night with a friend for the first time tonight so Thomas got to stay up late and watch a movie with us. 

Hoarders

My children are tiny hoarders. 

Timothy hoards toys. All toys. Even broken ones. Cheap little gumball machine toys, goody bag toys, etc. I had the pleasure of cleaning out his closet earlier this summer. I say pleasure because I truly enjoy getting rid of junk that he would not part with. I have to do the purge when he is not paying attention though. 

Thomas hoards paper. Every scrap of paper he has ever written on is a treasure. I ask him to pick up his squashed origami from the living room, thinking they will go in the garbage, but he takes them to his room. I keep all of his writing from school and special projects he makes, but the scraps with doodles have got to go. So today I cleaned out his "art" drawers and threw away what needed to go. 

Feels good to clean out!

Dad Day

I had to go do blood work this morning then met with a friend for lunch, so the kids stayed with Brian while he worked from home. They loved it cause they got to play video games and watch TV all morning. He took them to pick up Chick Fil A for lunch so that was an added bonus. 

Surgery 7/11

My surgery is coming up on Monday, July 11. It is a radical left mastectomy. They are taking all breast tissue, all lymph nodes, and as much skin as they can from the left side. I should be left with a flat scar afterward. 

For the upcoming surgery we are praying for:

-God to work through my surgeon and surgical team

-Successful surgery

-Removal of all breast tissue and lymph nodes

-Quick healing and no infections

-No Lymphedema or loss of range of motion in left arm

-No cancerous cells left anywhere in my body

-Easy to manage pain

-God's peace for my family and kids

The MRI I had recently showed good progress. Praise God! I am praying hard that the good progress equals NO cancer left in my body. They take everything from surgery and send it to a lab where they will look to see how much cancer is left. If it is all gone, it's considered a pathological complete response. That is my big prayer right now. Recurrence rates drop more with that. Still not a guarantee, of course. 

I am still praying for complete and permanent healing/cure so I can be here to raise my kids and grow to be an old lady. 

Thank you for praying with us. 

4th of July

Today we relaxed all morning knowing that we would have an eventful evening.

We went to MiMi and Boonpa's house for burgers and hot dogs. We swam and the boys did all their pool tricks. Then we got to watch fireworks from the pool. It was a great way to celebrate Independence Day! 

Errands

We found ourselves with an open afternoon today so we checked some things off of our to-do list. 

We sold 4 large tote bags full of books to the used book store, returned a couple of things at Kohls, baked cookies and brought them to our neighbor to thank him for getting us our rental car at a discount on vacation, dropped off 2 bags of clothes to the donation place, reorganized Timothy's bookshelf, changed the air filters in the house, and did our normal Sunday stuff. 

Pool Crashers

Today MiMi and Boonpa were working at their old house and it was hot outside and we had nothing to do so we crashed their pool! Without them being home.

They came home and caught us though. So they joined us for a swim and we had pizza for dinner by the pool. 

Movies!

This morning we went to see Finding Dory at the movies. It was cute and the kids enjoyed it. Thomas thought it was going to be too babyish for him, but he ended up liking it. Timothy was all about it. And all about the popcorn. :-)