3 Ring Circus......at home

Today was crazy! The guys showed up at 8am this morning to install the radiant barrier in our 3 attics. They were here from 8am till 7pm. The handy man showed up around 3pm to install the new ice maker in our freezer - we've been out of ice for months now. You don't realize how much you use your ice maker until it stops working. Then the true green guy stopped by sometime this afternoon just to look at the lawn and recommend service. Today of all days, I was so stinkin' busy with work and then entertaining Taylor too. It's a good thing Taylor plays well by herself and I'm sad to say that I let her watch TV all day. Thankfully she didn't sit and watch it all day.

I'm just glad today is over....tomorrow hopefully won't be a 3 ring circus!

Chez Ami!!!!

I have been searching for a hobby or venture to start that I would enjoy and could put my whole heart into. I've been praying for months for God to open a door for me and one morning when I was running with Katherine, she told me about Chez Ami. I checked out their website when I got home and applied. About an hour or so later I got an email back saying they had accepted my application!

I am so excited to tell everyone that I am now an Independent Consultant for the children's clothing company Chez Ami! I am now the local rep for Coppell and surrounding areas, as well as friends and family, and hopefully their friends and family! Chez Ami has adorable children's clothes for boys and girls.

I get my first sample trunk the week of August 20 through August 23 and can't wait for the parties! I already have two parties scheduled and hoping to schedule a few more parties while I have my trunk. The trunk parties are awesome because you get to see the actual clothes and you can even try them on your kids if you bring your kids to the party.

The best part is, you don't have to come to a party to order clothes. I can send out catalogs to order from or people can go to the Chez Ami website and order off the website. I have added a Chez Ami button on my blog so all you have to do is click on it and it will take you to their website. I just ask that if you order anything, please put in my consultant id# 581087, that way I can track your order for you.

I am really excited about this opportunity! I was hoping to find something that I could do to be able to stay home with Taylor. This may or may not allow me to stay home with her full time, but I really want to do this and I know this will benefit my whole family.

Mommy's House

For the last month or so, every time we drive into the garage, Taylor gets all excited and says, "Yeah, Daddy's House". When we ask her where is mommy's house, she just says "I don't know". When we ask her if daddy lives here, she says yes. When we ask her if mommy lives here, she says yes and when we ask her if she lives here, she says yes. So confused!

Well, this morning I took Taylor to the office with me to do my timesheet. When she saw my office, she started saying, "Yeah, Mommy's House". I couldn't help but laugh. I've only taken her to my office probably 3 times in her whole life, but she thinks that is my house. Too funny. Gotta loves kids minds!

Finding a picture

I signed up or opened an account or whatever it is you do to get a facebook page today. Almost everyone we know has a facebook page including our parents friends - obviously not just a kid thing. Well, when I was setting up my profile, it asks for a picture to post. I didn't think much of it till I was searching through all our picture files to find a pic of me. This small task of finding a picture of me turned into a 2 hour search through all our files. The only single picture of me by myself was taken this past Saturday after my 5K race and I sure wasn't going to use that as my profile picture (all sweaty and nasty) - no way. Once I realized there are no single pics of me, I tried to find some of just Nathan and me. Not that easy either. There were only a select few (maybe 4) pictures of just Nathan and me together and none of them were super awesome. One of us was either looking away or something. Anyways, I started really looking at the pictures in our files and I'll give you one guess who dominates the spotlight......Miss Taylor.

I'm not saying that is bad, but it made me a little sad. Not sad because Taylor was in almost every picture (I love taking pics of her), but sad because I couldn't find a Christmas picture of Nathan and me, a picture of just us on our 5 year anniversary, or us out doing things. I just don't want to forget about Nathan and me.

Double date

I can't remember the last time Nathan and I got to go to a movie together. Usually I go with a friend and he goes with a friend. It was nice sitting next to my husband........too bad it wasn't a romantic, lovey-dovey movie.


We went to go see the new Harry Potter movie with The Huskeys. I love the Harry Potter books, even though I didn't finish the 6th book however many years ago it came out. I have the 7th book too which has been collecting dust on my shelf since it came out. Now that I've seen the 6th movie, I want to read the 7th book to see how it all ends.


For those of you who haven't seen the 6th movie: Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, it is probably the best movie out of all 6. Nathan even liked it which is saying alot. He does a good job appeasing my interests. He didn't care for the first few movies, but said the 4th and 5th movies were okay. Now that I think about it, he has taken me to go see every one of the Harry Potter movies when they first came out except the 5th one. That was only because Taylor arrived early and she was only a few weeks old.

We had a great time with the Huskeys at the movie and then dinner at Nate's. Yum!

Neigh neighs and Moo moos

Yesterday we went over to Burleson to see Nathan's parents. They had brought some cattle up to their friends ranch in Burleson, so we headed over there to surprise them. Whenever we tell Taylor that we are going to see Nana and Poppy, she says Poppy's neigh neigh. She knows that every time we go to Brownwood to stay with Nathan's parents on the ranch, that she sees cows and horses. Taylor does not call them cows and horses - they are neigh neighs and moo moos.

Dinner with The Stines

Tonight we had dinner with The Stines. Christina is in medical school, so we don't get to see her much, so it was nice to get to go out to dinner with her, Scott, and precious little Cate. This was the first time that they girls had really played together and they had a great time playing around after dinner.

Baby Ella Chisholm

Our sweet friends Geanna and Nate had a precious little girl last Sunday. We got to meet little Ella today and we already love her. Geanna grew up with Nathan in Brownwood and they now live in the Dallas area.

Geanna playing with Taylor

Baby Ella in the arms of one of Geanna's coworkers

Too Hot to Handle

Oh yeah, that's right, I am too hot to handle, but that's not what I'm talking about. This morning Katherine, Angie, and I ran the Too Hot to Handle 5K at White Rock Lake. We were afraid it was going to be blistering hot, but the weather was perfect. It wasn't too hot and there was a slight breeze.

This race seemed shorter than the last 5K I ran, but it also seemed harder for some reason. I am a little dissapointed in myself because I walked more of the race then I would of liked to. Katherine and I were trying to remember what our time was for the last race which we think we ran it in 40 minutes, so I did beat my time this race with 38+ minutes. Katherine and Angie did awesome as well!



Getting ready to race.......



Yep, that's a chicken at the start line.



We did it! Yea us!

Crazy Red Bird

We have lived in our house in Coppell for almost 2 years now. The previous tenants forgot to tell us that the house came with a resident crazy bird. There is a Cardinal that must live in our front yard or somewhere close. The bird flies to the windows on the front of the house and peeks at them. He does this several times a day. We noticed him when we first moved in, so I put some of Taylor's stuffed animals in the downstairs windows (which looked great from the street - let me tell you). When we had the stuffed animals in the windows, he didn't bother the downstairs windows anymore and started peeking at the upstairs windows. So I put animals in the all the front windows and we didn't hear from the bird for months. I took the animals down about 3 months later thinking he was long gone and he came back almost the next day it seemed like. He has been back every day since and I don't know how to make him stop hitting the windows.

Tait, our Norweigan Elkhound hears everything and the bird use to drive him crazy. Tait doesn't even respond to the peeking at the windows anymore. That is how use to it we all are. It makes me think of the Windex commercials where the birds fly into the window because it is soooo clean. Well, our windows are not that clean and he isn't flying into them. He must just be special.

As I write this, I can hear the bird hitting the window above my desk. Crazy Red Bird!




This is as close as I can get to the window before he flies away. He is on the right side of the window.

GattiTown

Taylor and I met Crystal and Somang at Cutie Patootie this morning in Frisco to do a little shopping. After shopping at my favorite kids resale shop, we went to GattiTown in Frisco. From what I was told, GattiTown was a kid friendly play place with a yummy buffet. When we first went in, we asked the guy at the front counter if there were play structures for Taylor who is 2 and Somang who is almost 1. The guy told us yes, so we went in. Well, you have to pay for the buffet before you can enter, so we did. We walked pass the little buffet and went to play area. Apparently the guy doesn't have children because there was no play structure for any kid. It was a Midway area. The only thing for the girls to do was to ride on the little carousel. We ate and then went a rode the carousel - twice. That was the extent of our adventure at GattiTown. I'm sure it is fun for older kids, but I don't recommend it for young kids. Plus, the buffet wasn't that great. I feel bad that I recommended it to Crystal.

Doctor Taylor

Taylor played with her medical kit this morning and it was precious. She doctored me up and then quickly moved on to giraffe and then on to lamb. Poor lamb, he kept falling off his seat, so he got more medical attention than giraffe and me.

Maybe we have a future doctor in the making! Doctor Taylor Theaux - it has a nice ring to it!

Back to volleyball

It's volleyball season again! Nathan and Nate are playing volleyball again and it started Thursday night. The boys haven't played in a year, so they were a little nervous - but played great. Courtney and Chloe met us up there and the girls played in the sand with their buckets and shovels. They had a blast. They also enjoyed sticking their heads in the sand with their bottoms up in the air. They looked like ostrich's with their heads in the sand - they thought it was hilarious.

I didn't have my camera with me, so sorry, no picks this week from volleyball. I'll get some picks next week. Hopefully the girls won't put their heads in the sand again. It took me forever to get all the sand out of Taylor's hair that night.

Sweet Courtney sent me some pics of the girls, so I just added them to the blog. Enjoy!

Moon Sand

Taylor got Moon Sand for her birthday and we finally opened it Wednesday night. Moon sand is sand that has playdough like qualities. It's pretty neat. I laid a tablecloth down on the grass outside, got tupperware to keep the moon sand in, and opened the sand for Taylor to play with. The set she got had a castle and king/queen molds for Taylor to make characters and build a castle with. Taylor seemed to enjoy playing in the sand and mixing the colors together. I was trying my hardest at first to keep the colors separate, but that lasted about 5 minutes. I gave up on keeping the colors separate and keeping the sand in either the tupperware or on the little inflatable table that came in the set.

Within 15 minutes, Taylor had the two colors of sand completely mixed and she was covered in sand. Her legs, feet, and hands were blue and pink! Since we were outside, I took her dress off and hosed her down. She thought it was great! Since her pool was still sitting on the patio, I decided to just fill it up and let her play.

Check out the blue and pink legs!

Parade float

Prepare to be amazed! Angie and I have spent almost every day working on some piece of the float for the last few weeks. It was a little stressful, but I really enjoyed working with Angie and constructing the float. We used the VBS theme of Cosmic City: Explore the Wonder of God as our theme for the float. We built houses like on the cartoon The Jetson's and put a few rockets on the float.

We spent most of Thursday at the church during the day and then we were back up there from 6 to 10:30pm Thursday night with help from friends to construct the houses and bolt them down to the float. Friday morning we went back up to the church at 10am to finish the float. I was the last to leave at 2pm and the float was done - what a relief!

Late night float building - constructing the houses

Practicing her royal wave for the parade

This morning we met at the church at 7am to drive the float to the start of the parade route. Driving down 2 major streets in Coppell on a float was a little crazy. We rode on the float because we were afraid the houses might fall over. Luckily, the guys had secured them perfectly and they weren't going anywhere. Our float riders and walkers met us at 9am and the parade started at 10am. Nathan walked next to us and handed out candy to the kids while Taylor and I rode on the float. We made it through the parade which I think Taylor really liked getting to wave at all the people. She kept yelling (in her soft voice) "Happy 4th, Happy 4th". I think I am the only one who could hear her, but it was precious.

The final product!

Taylor on the float this morning

Taylor and me getting ready to ride the float

4th of July Fireworks

The City of Coppell put on the 4th of July Fireworks show last night at the aquatic center. A ton of businesses and churches set up booths and the kids play till it is time for the fireworks. We went up there last night around 7:30 and walked around for a while and then laid out our blanket and chair. Yep, we only have 1 folding chair for some reason. Who knows. Anyways, we sat with some friends and just relaxed. Taylor did great the whole night.

Wagon ride to the aquatic center

Got her chair and is ready for the show!

Getting daddy

Playing with daddy

When the fireworks finally started around 10pm, she wasn't so into them. She ended up crawling into my lap and hiding her head in my shoulder till they were over. She was okay watching the low fireworks, but the higher up fireworks seemed to scare her. I don't think the noise bothered her which is what usually scares kids. She didn't cry at all, but she kept her head buried until we told her it was over and then she was happy as a clam. I will never understand kids!

Poor little thing.

I didn't get any pics of the fireworks since my hands were full with Taylor. I didn't mind - she doesn't like to be held much anymore, so I was happy to hold her.

Swimming

I have been neglecting my blog lately. I have been so focused on the float and other things lately, that I just haven't had a chance to sit down and blog. They've blocked it at work, so I can't update the blog in the mornings at the office like I use to. Anyways, I am going to catch you up - even though there isn't much to catch up on.

We did go to the aquatic center last Saturday and swam for 2 hours. Taylor absolutely loved it! I love seeing her so confident in the water. Last year (granted she was only a year old), she honestly hated being in the water. She hated the pool, the lake, and the bathtub. This year, thanks to swim lessons which were more of just getting the kids use to the water than anything else, Taylor likes being in the water.