Pomp and Circumstance

Congratulations to Jennifer's baby sister, Lee Blackmon, for graduating from high school last month! We are so proud of her and wish her well in all her future endeavors. Next stop for her is at the University of North Texas! Love you, Aunt Lee!

Best story from the weekend was Jennifer flying home standby with the kiddos...we were running a little late to the airport (well, VERY late, actually) and we were going through security. They were bored, evidently, and decided to get cute and tell us that they needed to re-scan the kids loveys (stuffed animals). Jennifer looked at them and quickly snapped "No time for that, we have a flight that leaves in 12 minutes!" She threw Lily in the stroller, told Ty there was no time for him to put on his shoes and raced to the gate. We made it, just in time! It was like the Amazing Race, family edition.

Humpty Dumpty

We had our first "emergency" with Ty the other day. He was running around the house to the front door to ring the door bell while I went through the house to answer the door. When I opened the door, Ty was crying with blood dripping down his forehead. Yikes!

Evidently he tripped on the front doorstep and land head-first on our "exposed aggregate" (engineer speak for pebble-y and rough) front porch. Poor little guy. I laid him down and applied pressure to try to stop the bleeding. Lily was crying because Ty was crying so I decided someone had to be calm and in control (even if I had to fake it!). I sent Mark a picture with my phone so he could "see" it from his office. It was small but deep and as head wounds are known to do, it was bleeding a lot. Mark and his engineering buddies decided it would be best if a doctor looked at it, although one of them thought it would be cool for Ty to go to Kindergarten with a scar next year!

I continued to apply pressure to his wound and after 90 minutes I had to agree that we need a professional to help. We sent Lily to stay with our amazing friends, the Kutz family, and headed to St. Michael's Emergency Clinic. We had a great experience there...Ty got a popsicle and lots of TLC. The doctor used Dermabond to glue it together (it's just like super glue, really!) instead of stitches, thank goodnees. We've included some pics from his little adventure.

I did want to share a few comments on my Facebook posting of the picture of Ty's wound from some very funny friends and family:

From Holly Moore: "Awww, man! Falling -- not fun. But gluing your head back together? AWESOME!"

From Ty's Uncle Chris: "Chicks dig scars. When he's older he can make up some story about rock climbing. "

P.S. The doctor confirmed he is healing well. It's just going to take a little time for a gash like that to really go away. Hopefully he'll be looking good in time for his Aunt Jacque's wedding photos in 5 weeks!

Moms do a lot of folding

Ty was listening while I talked on the phone today to a friend who was missing her mom who had passed away. When I hung up the phone, Ty asked why she was sad. I talked a little bit about death and how it makes people sad and then I asked him if he would be sad if I died. He thought for a second and said, "No."

Stunned, I asked him why he would not. He answered, "Because I would still have Daddy."

Well, of course, that makes perfect sense. I then asked him if he thought Daddy would be sad without me. He responded, "Well, Daddy would be sad because he wouldn't have a wife anymore, but Daddy would have me. I can help him with all the things that you do."

Mama: "Well, what would you help Daddy with?"

Ty: "I could help with the folding. You fold a lot of things."

I will sleep better tonight knowing that if something happened to me, Mark would be OK since Ty would handle the folding. Ahh...the innocence. :)

Out of the mouths of babes!

Ty and Lily woke up super early this morning due to Daylight Savings so we flipped on the TV in our room to whatever was playing on CBS that seemed appropriate for kids. We usually watch Noggin or PBS which don't have commercials. Ty was fascinated with the kid oriented TV commercials since he doesn't seem them very much. One of the things they were trying to sell was a Mommy and Me DVD that can be used in playgroups...it has music, games, activities, etc. So Ty turns to me and says, "Mommy you can stay home with me and we can have the 'Mommy and Me Experience' all day long!" I quickly reminded him that would mean that he would have to stay home from school and we all agreed that we had plenty of the "Mommy and Me Experience" everyday after school!

Seriously, word for word, the "Mommy and Me Experience"? Kids are total sponges...

Ty even used the word FEIGN today. He told us that Lily was feigning something. I thought he said FAINT so I asked him what it meant...impressed that he knew what fainting was. He said "No, FEIGN, like pretending to be something that you're not". Really, feign? I don't use that word on a regular (or even infrequent) basis. Wow.

He continues to amaze me on a daily basis. This parenting thing is pretty awesome some days. Watching them grow and learn and absorb it all...it's fascinating and oh so rewarding! I am going to put on my "I love parenting" shirt now...

Ty's first soccer team, the Knights!

[Sorry, I set this up months ago and haven't even told anyone to look at it. Sorry...clearly I am not keeping up with posts so I promise to do better! Hurricane Ike got in the way of a lot of things in our life...]




So, Ty has started with his first sports team this fall. We are playing soccer at the local YMCA. I am attaching a few pictures for you to enjoy. Ty is probably the youngest kid on his team and is playing with some much bigger and more athletic 5 year olds. This has been frustrating for him and many tears have been shed on the soccer field. Ty enjoys practice much more than games...especially when he has to play goalie! But, we know this is a learning experience for him and we are encouraging him to keep a smile on his face and keep trying.

Since Mark and I don't have an athletic bone in our bodies, it is hard because we know he's not naturally an athlete. But, Ty REALLY wanted to play soccer and be a part of a team so we are giving him that experience with all the good and bad that comes with it. (Yes, that is a picture of him scratching his rear end DURING a game...)

We'll keep you posted...3 games down and 5 to go! Go Knights! FYI, Lily is going to dress up as their mascot for the last game, if it ever cools down enough. :)

Pictures at Blue Bell - Gig 'em Ags!

Here are a few recent pictures we thought you would enjoy. We went to Blue Bell Creamery with the Kutz family up in Brenham during our "Hurri-cation" (that's what you call the week off of school after Hurricane Ike). Also included is a picture of our typical Saturday gameday attire. Gig 'em Aggies!