Soccer practice

Today was our first soccer practice and the boys loved it. It brought back fond memories for me. It was all I could do to not kick the ball in the goal. Alright I confess I did give a kick here and there. Ella even played with them and played goalie for their scrimmage. She thinks she might want to play!

Loss

Today is the first day that I think I can actually talk about it. People have been saying to me "why didn't you say anything" Well the answer is quite frankly, I couldn't. I couldn't speak about it without crying. I still can't most of the time. Last week our beloved Sam Houston went to heaven. John thought we should tell the kids that Sam wasn't coming home anymore. So I tell them that he is sick and he needs to go to heaven because only Jesus can make him better. Well Ella cried her heart out and wanted to know when he would come back from heaven. Christopher said, if Jesus lives in my heart and Sam is with Jesus, is Sam in my tummy? It was just excruciating for John and I to watch them try to work out this tragedy. They have asked for him everyday and last week I cried to the guy in Chic fil A. We were hoping San Antonio would be a distraction but yesterday when we came home Christopher looks at me so puzzled and says "Where's Sam" My eyes well up and I say honey, hes in heaven. GET HIM BACK he says, I WANT SAM BACK. The whole ordeal is just emotionally taxing. The reason of course is that Sam was a great dog. He loved those kids and they loved him like he was an extra sibling. Erin said a fond memory was Tyler and Ella painting him. He was docile with them and he loved to be with them. Everyday the kids were greeted at the door and no matter what kind of day they had, Sam was there to welcome them and they felt that much needed unconditional love. John and I are devastated for them but also for our own loss. He could drive me crazy but at night when the kids were in bed and I was on the couch he curled up beside and me and snuggled. He knew everything, when I was so sad I would lay in bed and cry and Sam would jump up and just cuddle into me and he dried my tears with his fur. When I was mad I told him so no one else would know my crazy thoughts. Some people keep a journal, I had a dog! If you are not a dog lover you can't possibly understand but the house is just so awfully quiet and we all are feeling the tremendous loss. Ella told me today, I hope grandpa Tracy pets Sam a lot in heaven! Christopher said, Sam is crying for me and I need to give him a kiss.

Sam Houston - we miss you!

La Cantera

I wanted them to pose for a picture and Jack was on the other side of the pillar and I said Jack come sit with Daddy and jacks reply was "No Mommy I want to stay here and enjoy the sunset". I said no Jack, its 1pm - no sunset yet. OK MOM in his scratchy voice. This is his best co-operation pose!

This weekend we went to San Antonio. We had such a great time. We stayed at the Westin La Cantera and it was so fun for the kids. They had s'mores at night around a fire, they had balloon artists, cotton candy and bounce houses with water slides. Zoomagination was there with live Macaws, boa constrictors, wallaby, a bearded dragon and more. The kids were in heaven.

RESPECT

We are so proud of Ella - she won the Respect award for school. She is so kind and gentle and John said a little speech about her at the ceremony and he said "GOOD LUCK ELLA" I died laughing, he meant to say Good Job! Christopher of course slept through the whole thing. I think he sleeps through everything...

NOT A BOX

My friend "Tooley" gave us this great book called "Not a box" and its about this boy who uses his imagination and his box is a race car, a pirate ship, and fire truck etc. Well today the boys got some new furniture and we had this great big box so the kids played for hours making it a home, a kitchen, a bedroom and just had so much fun... I am calling it the Kitchen sink box since even the IPOD dock made it in and they turned up the tunes.... This age is so much fun. Everyday I feel like I can't keep track of all the funny things they say and do.

TIE

When Ella went to my parents months ago she wanted to bring us back presents. One present she thought John just had to have was this lovely Canadian flag tie. He opened it with enthusiasm and then hung it on the tie rack. A few weeks ago she came out of our closet with a look of disappointment that his tie was still in a bag. Today sweet John decided to wear the tie (till he got to the car) and Ella couldn't have been more pleased. Way to score some brownie points John!

Artist

Painting is one of my kids favorite past times, they love to paint paper, themselves each other but thankfully they aren't painting the rest of the house. The interesting thing about kids ages 3-5 is that when they paint they paint on top of each color. So Ella will put down red then blue on top of red then mush it altogether so the end result is a big brown blob in the middle of the paper. However, not in Jack's case. He spend his time twisting his paper around so the colors would be all over the page. He covered every square inch. Here is his final product I thought it was awesome.

Another funny Jack comment, today Bobbie asked him what his name was and he said JACK Thomas the train Mullins.... So funny!

Tu as Fortu

I haven't posted any dancing videos in awhile and there was some thought that maybe the kids weren't doing that anymore. Au contraire my dears there is not one day that goes by that there isn't dancing sometimes its before bed and other times its before breakfast. Here is a little snip it of tonight, and Christopher has his weapon. I would like to think I didn't teach them about guns but most of you know that the Nerf gun is my favorite anti stress device!

Nap Time

Here the boys are having a snooze. Looks comfortable! Hopefully they don't stretch too much or someone will have feet in their face.
When I picked the boys up from school after running today, Jack looks at me and says Mommy i can smell your exercises. Christopher who is quite the ladies man says No Jack, Mommy is pretty and Jack says No Christopher she stinks....

Jennifer!

There are some days when things seem perfectly fine and really nothing is the matter adn yet my heart aches. Today is one of those days. The kids were great, funny and sweet and John was coming home from being away but I couldn't shake my gloomy mood. I attempted some mind over matter and then I realized that the only thing that would make me feel better in this moment was thousands of miles away. Today my heart ached for my best friend Jennifer. I miss her everyday and even though we talk practically everyday her moving has left this gigantic hole in my heart and I just wish I could snap my fingers and bring her back. Miss Jennifer you are missed!

Ella

Ella made the slideshow at her schools website. She is the third picture.
http://tough.conroeisd.net/