Happy Holidays

Fall Fun!

I had a little extra time this weekend, so I decided to get all the leaves out of the yard again. We have a huge oak tree in the front yard and it only takes a few days and the yard, house and driveway is covered. It turned out to be a very nice day, so after naptime, Cauy came out and "helped" me. Notice the football attached to his hip. That thing never leaves his side.

My Little Spider-Man

I know this is really late, but I just now got it off the camera. This was taken at school on Halloween.

Cauy in his Spidey-glasses:



He had a good time and really enjoyed shooting his web at everyone.

Torn - David Armand

He does an amazing job.

Maybe this will get the Mayor's attention

Wish us luck in our battle!

Dance, White Boy, Dance

This is hysterical!

Dance, White Boy, Dance

NLR Mayor is at it again!

This just in:

NLR Mayor Patrick Hayes has told the officers & fire that their budget for 20007 is $0 because they opposed the ballpark and other projects the Mayor has his eyes on. The officers and fires money for equipments sits in the General Fund account and the money is disbursed. Well this year, he says NO. So looks like the officers and fire will not get new vehicles, trucks, radios, guns, pepper spray, handcuffs and anything else that falls into this category. How are they supposed to fight the crime? I guess the ballpark, tug boat and Big Dam Bridge will take care of all that for the city. PLEASE HELP THE OFFICERS FIGHT THIS!!! They need all the help they can get. He has also cut 20 vacant positions in the department. They are already short as it is and now he wants to cut those positions from ever being filled. NLR is looking at a ratio of about 1:1000 (1 officer per 1000 citizens). Michael has already had to fight for his life in the past week and it is only going to get worse. He has cut the positions due to financial reasons. No kidding! He gets what he wants, but no one else does. Someone tried to break into our vehicle with the patrol car in the driveway. The criminals know that the officers cannot do anything because they are all alone. Write a letter to the Mayor. Help us fight this and get the word out.

Mother of the Year Award

My poor sweet baby. I am sure that he is going to go to school and tell them that I did it. He has already mentioned to me this morning that "Mommy did it". I was out and about last night and he stayed home with Michael. I got home and he was at the door waiting on me and was holding it open for me telling me to come in. Well, I went to grab the door and his hand slipped down the glass (full glass storm door) and I could not catch him. It is my fault for grabbing the door before he got back. It swelled instantly and Michael put a frozen bag of peas on it to help with the sweelling and I gave him some Motrin. It is amazing how resilant these little suckers are. He was up running around within minutes of it. I felt horrible, but as someone told me, this will not be the last time that I have a kid that looks like I beat the snot out of them.

A few recent shots

I thought I would share a few pics. I have been pretty busy lately, so I don't have much time to update.

Cauy is growing like a week. He is talking our ears off and is too smart for his own good. I took these last night. He was showing off and yelling "Ta Da".

What do you think?

What an amazing speech!

Bush Getting Owned

Wow, I am glad that someone finally said it.

Treadmill Video

This is hysterical!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pv5zWaTEVkI

The Weekend is Here!

Yeah! Looks like the weather will keep me in most of the weekend. Time for some much needed *Cauy* time. Have a great weekend everyone!

Bathroom renovations....Part one

As I sit here without any water in the house, I wonder why I decided to redo the front bathroom.....??

This house was built in 1958, that outta tell you right there what we have been dealing with. The house on the inside is beautiful. It has been added onto in the back and we have a nice 1750 sq. ft. to work with. The only problem is that the facade is just that facade. Behind the shower wall is rotted sheetrock. All we were trying to do was change out the 1970's gold fixtures and replace them with chrome. It was supposed to be a 1 hour project. 7 hours later, the bathroom is torn apart, Michael is at Home Depot and my just cleaned last night bathroom looks like a tornado came through it. Turns out that the new fixtures are smaller than the previous and the old pipe is not long enough for the new fixtures.

I am glad that I did not try to tackle this all by myself in a few weeks. I will leave this up to Michael to finish. We will be stripping the wallpaper, painting and laying ceramic tile in a few weeks. I just hope that goes off without a hitch.

Well I am sure that I just jinxed myself.

Update: 9:37 p.m., water is flowing, shower doors are down, faucets are up but we are getting ready to make another late night trip to Wally World for more caulk and some new stripping for the tub. Oye!

Update 2: The bathroom reno ~ part one is complete. The shower is functioning and I am glad that all is well right now. We have decided to go ahead and remove the shower walls and replace with ceramic tile. We have a long road ahead of us with this room but as Michael said, reno projects are never complete. So I see.

Staying Put

After much thought, concern and a few emails, Michael and I have decided to keep Cauy at PV in the Fall. He was going to be attending another private school starting mid-August, but we had many concerns (as well as others) about moving him around so much. Tuition is going to be twice what we wanted to pay, but I would rather him be happy and not stressed out about being at a new school. I know that we made the right decision, at least that is what I keep telling myself.

In the end, I do know that we did the right thing. Whooo...his Mrs. Marti will have her Cauy boy again. At least this time he won't be lugging around soy milk. Oohhh, memories!

Sweet child o' mine!

It has been almost 2 months since Marie and the Clement Clan has left us and he still asks to go to Ree's house everyday on the way to school. He is not crying like he used to when I told him that he was not able to go, but he still seems somewhat depressed and unsure of why he cannot see them.

Also, every time he gets dressed, he says Ian when we put his pants/shorts on. Don't ask me why. Maybe Marie can explain that one.

He is getting more and more talkative and is cracking us up everyday. We were taking a stroll through Kroger and he just started belting out "Happy Birthday to You". Not sure where he learned that from but it was too darn cute. I think he may have gotten it from Sprout. He loves that Channel.

Random Survey

Can-Did-Do-Does-Haves-Hows-Lasts-Whats-Whos

THE CANS:

Can you blow a bubble?: Yes

Can you dance?: Yes

Can you do a cart wheel?: Yes

Can you tie a cherry stem with your tongue?: Nope

Can you touch your toes?: Yes

Can you whistle?: Yes

Can you wiggle your ears?: If I use my hands

Can you wiggle your nose?: Not really

THE DIDS:

Did you ever get into a fist fight in school?: Yes

Did you ever run away from home?: Yes

Did you ever want to be a doctor?: Yes, still kind of do.

Did you ever want to be a fire fighter?: Noo

Do you believe in God?: Yes

Do you know how to swim?: Yes

Do you like roller coasters?: No way!

Do you own a bike?: No

Do you think you could handle the stuff they eat on those reality shows?: No!

THE DOES:

Does hair loss run in your family at all?: Not really

Does your car get good gas mileage?: Yes

Does your family have family picnics?: No


THE HAVES:

Have you ever been on a plane?: Yes

Have you ever asked someone out?: Yes

Have you ever been asked out by someone?: Yes

Have you ever been to the ocean?: Yes

Have you ever been fishing?: Yes

Have you ever painted your nails?: Yes, they are painted right now

THE HOWS:

How tall are you?: 5'4"

How much money do you have on you right now?: $0

THE LASTS:

Last person you hung out with?: Cauy

Last thing you said out loud?: "Michael, come here"

Last thing someone said to you?: "Mommy?"

THE WHATS:

What are you listening to?: Dryer running

What is the weather outside?: Sunny and HOT!

What radio station do you listen to?: Alice 107.7

What was the last restaurant you ate at?: Chili's

What was the last thing you bought?: Groceries

What was the last thing you had to drink?: Milk

what was the last t.v. show you watched? COPS

THE WHOS:

Who was the last person you IM'd?: Kristy

Who was the last person you talked to on the phone?: Mom

Who is your current crush?: Michael

Who was the last person you took pictures with?: Cauy

Who was the last person you said i love you to?: Cauy

Family Pictures

www.amykeltonproofs.photosite.com/cauy/

If anyone wants one, let me know and I can order them for you. I think Amy did a wonderful job. Ignore the few pics of me on my stomach! Cauy was jumping up and down as Amy was snapping shots and I have some pretty painful looks on my face. 30lbs of toddler is not something that my back appreciated.

Terrible or Teriffic Two's?

I would go with the latter of the two. Terrible is right. It is like the day he turned 2, he became a totally different child. Although, he is still loving and caring and my sweet angel baby (when he wants to be) his mean streak (like his Father's) has reared it's ugly head. This is another reason why my baby making days are out the door. The main reason is the fact that Cauy is a special child, not many like him and I really don't think that we could duplicate what we have, so why try? KWIM?

Other than a few toddler tantrums, things are good at the Blevins house. We are looking to start redoing the house over the next few years and we have gone over some things in our heads, it is just putting it down on paper and shelling out the dough for it. One of which we don't have. The first thing that I really want to do is paint the den/dining room and get rid of that ugly carpet - and/or- do something with the siding on the house. But if we do that, we would have to replace the windows and that is going to set us back about $9K. NOT something we have laying around.

We attempted VBS last night, but Cauy was not liking it too much. With him just changing bible classes at Levy, he was a little confused as to what was going on at VBS at Somers. Needless to say, we won't attempt the rest of the week. Poor little guy was super upset and I don't want to put that through him again.

Why would you want to upset this little face?

Picture for Marti

Check out these two! Aren't they just precious. What exactly are they talking about?? I think they are plotting. Ohhh, those are the days!

First week finished.........

Well I have finished my first full week of being back on my workout wagon and so far so good. I just finished my 20 minute run and I feel pretty good. I am down 4 lbs and hopefully I will lose another 15 lbs in the next 11 weeks. I figure that I got all the equipment laying around, why not use it every now and then. Sounded like a plan to me, so I went with it.

Work has been super busy. It always picks up in the summer time. At least I have job security.

Cauy is doing well. He is talking our ears off and missing his Ree and Ian very much. He started crying on Wed when I told him to get in the car because we were going to school. He said "NO MOMMY, REE's HOUSE!!" I did not know what to say. I just keep telling him that Ree's house is all done and Ian went bye bye. He is not buying it. Smart little bugger! Although he is missing his Ree and Ian very much, he is enjoying PV just as well. He has a little girlfriend there and he did not cry Thursday when I dropped him off. That was the first time that he has not clung to my leg and tried to hitch a ride back to the house with me. It is still a work in progress, but things will eventually get better and easier for him.

Here are a few pictures of him from his party. I still cannot believe that he is 2 years old!

This is him eating his "pita" - pizza for those that did not understand toddler :)


This is his Blues Clues cake that we had made for him. He just LOVED it!


And one of him opening one of his favorite toys. He has the single letter one as well. This boy better be a genius with all these letters and phonics around the house!

Stealing and idea from Marie, here is a then and now picture of Cauy. My little man is not a baby anymore!

- Then

- Now

Well I am off to bed. I am taking Cauy to his first movie tomorrow. We are having a mommy and me day. I did not get to have my day with him this week, so we are doing our date tomorrow morning. Nighty nite!

Oh Ian......Oh Baby Riwey......Oh Matt.....Oh Ree

These are the words that my son uttered most of the day yesterday....and most of the weekend. I think yesterday it really hit him that he had not seen them since Wed of last week and he is having withdrawls, as most of us are. Last night he was laying in bed with me and was asking for Ian and luckily it was dark so that he could not see me crying. I think it will be even more difficult tomorrow when we get up to go to school and we will not be driving to Mrs. Ree's house, but to PV. It is going to be a long morning and luckily I have waterproof makeup!

On a lighter note, his 2nd birthday party was on Saturday! We did a Blue's Clue's theme and he had a great time. I will be posting pics soon. Off to work I go.

Cauy's last day

Well the day has come. The Clement's have not taken our hints and are still moving this weekend and today is Cauy's last day at Re's. I am trying to explain to him what is going on and that they are going bye bye and will be gone for a long time, but how does a 2 year old really understand something like that? Those Clement's are sure going to be missed.

I was able to get him in at PV for a few days each week to help with Michael's sleep depreviation and he will start his new school in August. The seperation anxiety has set in again and I am not looking forward to dropping him off every day.

The boy will be 2 on Friday. I cannot believe it at all! We are doing his party on Saturday and I am sure that it will be a blast. This child is spoiled!!!!! But whatelse is a mother to do?

Ladies Night Out

It is about time my boys came back to Arkansas. Train will be performing at Riverfest tonight starting at 9:30 pm. My girlfriend and I are making a night of it and doing dinner and maybe a small drink and then headed to the NLR side of the river to watch my band play. If you have never seen them in concert, this is your time. They are amazing! If you like what you hear, pick up their new CD, "For Me, It's You".

Last night we went to the Bewley's for the Clement's farewell party and we all had a great time. I think Chad was a little intimidated by the 12 or so kids running around, but I don't think Mary was a bit phased at all. We are going to miss the Clement's dearly and I wish them the best of luck. Cauy is going to miss is Re & Mr. Matt, but I am not sure how I am going to explain why Ian is not around anymore. Those two are inseparable. What do you expect. They are a month apart and have been together for almost every day for almost a year. Boys will be boys! Those Clement's better stay in touch!

St. Louis or Bust

Well, we are headed to St. Louis in the morning. Going to meet some friends and get all the kids together. It will be about 14 adults and 7 - 2 yr. olds. Wish us luck! We did this last year as well and the kids seemed to really enjoy it. We will be hitting Grant's Farm this year. Hopefully I can get some really good pictures for everyone. See you Monday!

TRAFFIC!!!!!

I cannot begin to explain my frustration with the Arkansas traffic lately! Over the past two weeks, it is like all the idiots and their counterparts have decided to take the roadway as I am trying to get to work or home. My 30 minute commute in the morning has turned into a 1 1/2 hour struggle and don't get me started about the commute home. Last night I had to turn around on Cantrell (after sitting still for about 10 minutes) and then go the opposite direction to head to Maumelle to get Cauy. I finally got turned around at Pavilion in the Park and drove back past my office and went through NLR, drove past my house - waving as I drove by - and went through Oak Grove just to get to Maumelle. I get to Marie's around 6pm to get the child and then as I am turning down her street, there is an accident that had occured a few moments prior where a semi and a car decided to become one. Right where I will need to be turning left to go home. The only good thing about being late yesterday was that semi vs. car could have been Cauy and I. I AM SO FED UP WITH THE TRAFFIC!!! I have contemplated quitting my job just so that I don't have to deal with it anymore. Anyone else noticing a strange twist in our lovely Arkansas traffic system?

Dear friend in need of some prayers!

Long story super short.........

My best friend's mother is in need...well their entire family...of some serious prayers. They have been struggling with a family members problem with theft and lying and it has come down to him now in jail and they have decided to not bail him out. The mother is struggling with the idea of leaving her son in there, but they just cannot afford to bail him out again. They are in financial ruin and it has taken a toll on the entire family. I have been a part of this family for almost 20 years and I have seen it all first hand. Please send some much needed prayers their way. They are going to need all they can get. Please pray for the son and allow him to see what he is doing is wrong and come to grips with his own demons.

Thanks for all the prayers for this dear family!

Grades are in and..........

I did not do as bad as I thought but I still did not do as well as I had hoped. Taking 5 classes, working full-time and having a 2 yr old running around is a pretty difficult task. I am surprised I did as well as I did. My final grades are:

Principles of Accounting: D
Algebra: C
History of Civiliation: B
Cultural Geography: B
English Comp I: A

I am going to retake Accounting on Campus. Taking it online was probably the most difficult thing that I could have done! I have my classes picked for fall and they are as follows:

English Comp II
Cultural Anthropology
Algebra
Biological Science

I am taking Algebra on Campus and I am taking Biological Science as a Hybrid class. I will do all the work online but my labs will be on Campus. I am glad that school is over and I will have some time to myself finally! I am starting my workouts again tonight and I hope to be back down to 105 lbs. by August. Wish me luck.

Mommy & Me Day!

Cauy, Tyler and I decided to go to the Zoo today and spend some time together. This is the first time that I have taken Cauy to the LR Zoo. We went to the St. Louis Zoo last year and he really enjoyed it them, so I knew that he would certainley enjoy it this time. We did lunch first and then headed to the Zoo. You would think that children under 3 would be free, but no, they are $4.00. Oh well, we still had a great time. He saw the Great Apes first and was trying to get to them. He is not really at the age to understand that he cannot play with all the animals. Most of the animals were out and about and he got to go play with the goats. He kept leaning down and talking to them. "Hey doat, mere doat". I wish I would have remembered the camera. I was so mad when I realized that I had ran off and left it at home! I was going to let him ride the camel, but he did not seem that interested in it. After about 2 hours of up and down, I could tell that he was getting tired (as I was too) and we made our way home. He was asleep 2 minutes after leaving the parking lot. Maybe he will take a really good nap and let me get some things done around the house.

We have got some serious work to get done around the house before his party in a few weeks. We need to prime and paint the cabinet that we built, I need to get the flower bed weeded and some new things planted and I want to get the dining room and the living room painted by then, but not sure that I am going to have time.

I am certainley enjoying being school free for a few months! I did not do as well as I wanted to this semester, but I did pass all my classes, so that is what counts. I am off to get some housework done. See ya!

School is officially over

But I am not sure that I did very well this semester. I always seem to put too much on my plate and this time I think I went a little over board. I did not study properly and my grades are surely to show it. My final grades are not posted yet, but I would gather to say that my A's & B's from last semester, will not appear on my transcript this time around. I am off until August 21st and I am going to enjoy every single moment of it with Cauy.

Speaking of Cauy, he is doing well. He is repeating everything that we say, which could become a problem! Man, my eyes are heavy and I cannot see the screen. I better get to bed. 3 hours of sleep last night did not do me well! I will finish updating tomorrow. I need to keep up with this. Michael started a page and is much better at updating his.

Night!

FINALS WEEK!

It is finals week for me. 4 finals in 4 days and I have not even started to study yet. I am going to attempt to cram and work and be a mother and wife, not sure how that is all going to work out, but I really don't have much of a choice at this time. Work is super busy today. All the files that went on hold in August due to Katrina, came off of hold on Friday, so that means that I am stuck with all of them today. Yeah for me! Wish me luck!! I did get a B in my History of Civilization class for the semester. How I pulled that off, I have no idea but it all counts in the end!

Long time, no blog!

Wow, I did not realize that it has been that long since I updated, but I am not sure that very many people read this like they do other another persons blog.

Anyway, wow how this week has changed. As most of you have heard, the Clement clan are leaving us for the great ole' state of Tennessee. I wish them the best of luck and will pray that have a wonderful life with their family in Nashville. They BETTER keep in touch! With this move, Cauy is in need of a daycare provider. I have a call into PV Dayschool and left a message for the Director. I believe that we may have found one by the house, but they are full but are trying to make arrangements to allow Cauy to start ASAP. All the places that I called have 1 - 1 1/2 year waiting lists, so we are not sure what we are going to do. For now, Michael is going to just work and watch Cauy and sleep when he can. We have struggled before and I know that we can make it this time.

School officially ended today, but finals stretch out til the 11th. My accounting class is my worst and I am just praying to walk away with a C in there. If so, I will do a dance for all! Wish me luck on all my finals! I better get back to work. I will try to keep this thing more up to date and I need to brag on Cauy some I guess. Ciao.

Good morning everyone. Today is the start of my Spring Break and vacation. WHOOOOOO. We are not going anywhere this week because Michael's work is short handed, so Cauy and I are just going to hang at home and Mommy is going to clean like a mad man....or woman. I will probably study and get caught up on what I don't understand in Accounting. I may have to call on Corrie to help me pass this class.

Cauy is fine. He is a handful at times, but what 2 yr old is not? I am sure that everyone has heard, but Marti and Matt welcomed Garrett David to the world on Monday. He is a handsome little man and oh how he looks like Emma. She is going to be a great big sister.

As most of you have heard as well, I was a couple of weeks ago. It is still all new for me since I was raised and practiced Catholicism up until recently. Catholicism will always be a part of me, but I feel more comfortable at Levy and that is where I plan to stay. Cauy enjoys it and he needs to be comfortable and enjoy what he is learning about Christ, not just having it thrown at him and him not appreciating it. I want to thank everyone for the cards, even though they threw me off a little. It was hard for me to make the decision, as I was baptized as a infant and I was a little unsure of what this was going to say about me but I knew what I needed to do.

Well Cauy is calling and have to get ready for a birthday party in a couple of hours. Ciao for now.

Wow, I have 2 blogs. Can you believe it? Thanks Chad for suggesting that we all move over here. Not sure if everyone has taken the subtle hints that you are throwing out, but maybe one day we can all be together again. :)

I always enjoy your AI comments. Keep up the great work.