Bye Bye Filani!

Congratulations to Jenn's Filani who went to Tennessee in the NFL draft on Sunday.

Other Raiders who went

Kenyunta Dawson to the Colts

Manny Ramirez to the Detroit Lions - Paul is psyched

Fun with Metamorphosis

I bought Patrick a Lady Bug Land (like an ant farm only for lady bugs) when I was at the National Science Teachers Association conference. We sent away for ladybug larva. When we got them, we put them in their habitat and watched them change. They were in the larva state for a week or two, then changed into the pupae stage. And this weekend they all emerged as lady bugs!! They were fun to watch emerge from their pupae stage. They are light orange right now, but they will become more bright orange-red over the next few days. Next weekend we will probably release them into our flower pots. And send away for new ones. This has been a fun experiment for Patrick. He sounds pretty cute when he says "metamorphosis."

Ranch Day at the Ranching Heritage Center

Patrick & I had so much fun today at Ranch Day. He was super excited to ride a horse "like the Masked Rider." The horse he rode was named Clyde. And he rode bare-back! He is ready to ride one in Colorado. He also thought the train was pretty neat. We got to look in all the "houses" and we talked about the kitchens and beds and stoves that kept the rooms warm. I am not sure he fully understood the heritage part, though. We got to go inside a teepee that he thought was pretty neat except for the hole at the top "because rain could get in." He was also very interested in people cooking the chuck wagon meals. He asked them all "whatcha cookin'?" There was also a Buffalo Gap Chips baseball game played with 1890s rules. Some of our Heckler friends were the opposing team. Agaim, Patrick wasn't convinced this was really baseball since it wasn't at Dan Law. He was more interested in talking to Snead, our Heckler friend.
I am pretty excited to go back next year. We'll take the stroller for sure.

B's biggest fears. . .

Biggest fears. . . this might be the most open and honest I have been on my blog. I guess that time had to come. I could only think of four, whereas I usually can go on and on.

1. Being lonely. And I don’t just mean just "by myself." I know I have been lonely when I have been in the presence of another person or a group of people. I mean lonely in my heart. Not in touch from my friends and loved-ones.

2. Patrick becoming weird – like anti-social, anti-establishment, anti-adults, anti-authority. Does that make sense? I want him to stay the All-American kid he is now. This fear goes for another child, too. I know kids have to find their own identities and all, but I want to be able to relate to him.

3. Never getting out of debt. Paul & I will be paying on our student loans until 2037 – yeah, 30 years. That kind of debt hanging over our heads scares me.

4. Water. Especially water on my face. I always keep a towel in the shower with me to wipe the water off my face. I don’t enjoy water sports. Not that I am petrified of the water – I’ll get in it to relax, I just don’t like it on my face. Drowning would be the worst form of death. Underwater movie or documentary scenes freak me out, too.

Did you know. . .

Did you know that this is a PREYING mantis and not a PRAYING mantis? I sure didn't. I just learned this at the St. Louis Zoo. Hmmh.

Cheer Patrick

Saturday night after the party, Patrick put on a little pep rally in the driveway. We were out there watching the storm. I borrowed a megaphone from the Spirit Squads - thanks Stephanie. Patrick said it was his new "big trumpet." What did he choose to sing into the trumpet - The Fight Song! We also had some little pom pons that I gave him and asked him to show me what cheerleaders do. AND HE DID! He was waving them around and jumping around. It was pretty entertaining. How he had the energy for it, I don't know.

The birthday fun never stops!

Doodah & Papa J got Patrick a Spiderman fishing pole set for when we go to Colorado. Of course it had to be Spiderman. He has already gotten pretty good at casting it. Lake City here we come!!

He drove his little H2 towards the cul-de-sac and stopped in the gutter to "fish." Mom's bluebonnets are in full bloom so we got the picture of him by those, too. I like how he has his hands in his pocket. He looks like such a big boy.

Love from Unlce Josh & Meghan

Uncle Josh goes over board for the little man. But what uncle doesn't? They got him this "hamster ball" for Patrick. It was challenging, but it was just rough and tumble enough that Patrick loved it.

They also got him a little chef hat, apron and oven mit. TOO CUTE! He loves to cook so now he's the complete chef.

I really like the picture of Patrick hugging Meghan. She is very special to him. I think it's funny how he associates 2 people together - like Doodah and Papa j, Rick and Diane, Fr. Jim and Waldo, Stacy & John, and of course, Uncle Josh and Meghan.

Post-game climbing the trees

There was some confusion and Josh & Meghan left early with our car keys. Doodah & Papa J didn't have their car seat, so we were stuck in the parking lot until Josh could make it back with our keys. So we climbed a tree. Patrick had never really climbed a tree before so we had another first. He thought it was really fun and passed the time well for me and Paul.

an

The baseball game

It's become birthday tradition to go to a Red Raider baseball game. He had fun running around with the Hecklers' boys. Raider Red was there again. This time he got Red's autograph on his poster. I made this poster for him. Guess I should have been more specific who we wanted to score a grand slam. Kansas came pretty close.

With the heat, being up late 2 nights in a row and all the running around he did at he game, he was pooped before the game ended. He got some cuddle time with Doodah. Sleep birthday boy.

He woke up just in time to take our traditional family picture with Coach Hays. I really like this year's picture since he was wearing the new throw-back unis. I especially like the hats. They are sharp.

The Party

Patrick was in absolute AWE that Raider Red was at his house. He showed him his new truck and we took a picture with the Raider moms and their boys. I really owe a lot to my mom. She made Patrick's cakes. She made a chocolate football cake and strawberry baseball cupcakes.

Doodah also made "chili for the dogs." I thought she meant she had made chili for Tucker, her gigantic chocolate lab, because he gets a peanut butter sandwich for breakfast every day. But she meant chili for the hotdogs.

Patrick's new ride - H2

Yeah, he's a pretty cool 3 year old. But we all knew that.

Me and Paul asked our parents and Josh & Meghan and Stacie & Chris to go in on this with us. It's too cool. Even has a working FM radio. It goes up to 5 mph. That doesn't sound fast, but IT IS.

He was pretending to go to the grocery store and go shopping. He is going to have so much fun with this. Now all he needs is someone to go riding with. . .

Could it be?

Could it really be that my baby is turning 3 on sunday?

This morning I called him "Birthday Boy" and he called me "Birthday Mommy." I said "I'm not 'Birthday Mommy'." Then I thought, well of course I AM! My mom always reminds me that is really is MY birth day. I mean, all he did was show up. wink wink

Patrick was born at 10:29pm on April 22, 2004. I will always remember 10:29pm because I started pushing as Seinfled began and Patrick Tye Codd was here by the time the Seinfeld credits were rolling. I really wish I knew what episode it was, but we were a little preoccuiped.

Time to brag on Mr. Patrick

I am SO PROUD of Patrick. For all practical purposes, HE IS POTTY TRAINED! We really started working with him in January, but with no real pressure. Before long, he was asking to go to potty. I think the Incredibles, Spiderman and Superman BIG BOY underwear helped, too. A couple of times we have forgotten to put him in Pull-Ups before going to bed, and he woke up dry.
I AM SO PROUD of my little man for being potty trained a month before his 3rd birthday!!
No more $ on diapers!!
(He is feeding Paul a plastic steak he cooked on his in tihs picture.)

Summertime, Summertime, Sum Sum Summertime

Reasons I LOVE SUMMER! C'mon June, July and August!

1. Hanging out in the blow-up pool with my boys.
2. I can get a great tan. I might not have the bod I used to, but I do have the tan.
3. My birthday - July 24th
4. Looking forward to vacationing in Colorado for a week with my boys, Mom and Dad and Josh & Meghan.
5. I am going to allowed to wear capris & flip flops to work!
6. Gives me more incentive to loose more weight to fit into cute sundresses.

2 Legit 2 Quit

Yeah, I quoted The Hammer. And I was jammin' along to this cd this morning too. REALLY jammin'! I needed a musical pick-me-up this morning, so I choose this cd. Jump by Kriss Kross, OPP by Naughty by Nature, The Humpty Dance by Digital Underground, 2 Legit 2 Quit, Iesha by Another Bad Creation.
Funny story how I got this cd. . . I went with several other "Young Professionals" in Student Affairs to the Alamo Bowl to coordinate Raider Gate and escort the Masked Rider. It was the night before the Alamo Bowl and Jon Mark and I were out late on The Riverwalk. We did RAIDER POWER so many times on the Riverwalk, we needed some coughdrops. So we commandeered our Surburban and went looking for a Wal-Mart. In addition to getting coughdrops, we got breakfast and juice for the next morning and this cd. We also got pictures with Ronald McDonald. JMB and I had it on 2 Legit 2 Quit so that it would play LOUD when we all got in the Surburban early - like 6am - the next morning to head to Raider Gate. The others didn't find our early mornin' jam as impressive or humorous as JMB and I did. Ever since this trip, this cd makes me smile and think of those carefree, crazy times.

Sweet Toby Kowalik update

Toby's doin' great, he's already grown a half inch, and he's close to4 1/2 pounds! He's goin' through all the stuff preemies go throughbefore they're allowed to go home, but he's holdin' up great! I gotto feed him my first bottle last night (it wasn't HIS first, justmine.),and we made it nearly all the way through. From Toby's Dad, Steve

Who's ready for FOOTBALL???!!!

Patrick is SO READY for Red Raider football! We took his new binoculars to the spring football game. He's still trying to figure out how they work. He looks into them backwards, because the he says end your supposed to look into "doesn't fit his eyes." Did that make sense?

DOODAH & PAPA J

DOODAH & PAPA J!!!!

My Doodah & Papa J ROCK! Guitar harmonica & all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's #37 for The Ricker

That's right, Ricky Shroder turns 37 today. Happy birthday to Mr. Silver Spoons.













And now for my pet peeves. . .
1. Dirty dishes left in the sink when the dishwasher is open
2. Slow drivers
3. People who mispronounce my name or misspell either of my names
4. People who talk on the cell phone when other people are in the car, when they are in the bathroom, other public places where others might not want to hear their conversations