We Love You, Pa Haslam

Dear Pa,

We are so sad to hear about you having to be in the hospital! We said a prayer for you the second we found out and continue to pray in your behalf. We love you and miss you so much! Get well soon! Keep us updated!

We made a video for you. Reese got a little emotional...as always. She doesn't like you having to be in a hospital and she can't come to visit you and kiss you better. We love you lots!

We (Gavin, Reese and Caden) are making you some pictures for your wall to brighten your hospital walls!

(Reese fighting back tears for her Pa!)

HUGS and KISSES!!!!

Love,
Gavin, Reese & Caden

P.S. Mommy says she loves you with all her heart and says you are the bestest daddy in the world!

All Froggies go to Heaven

Yesterday was a sad little day in our house. I had the kids outside in the backyard playing when they came running in to tell me that they wanted the camera so they could take pictures of the turtle that was in the their pool. I thought to myself, this should be interesting and I was really curious how a turtle could have happened to get into their pool.

Come to find out it was a FROG that was actually in their pool! The bad news, it was dead. The kids were in the pool WITH THE FROG and were telling me to hurry and take a picture before it got away. I knew that wasn't going to happen and told them to quickly get out!! Just the thought of them in the pool with this poor little dead frog was not pleasant! Germs, cooties, agh!! I wanted to leave the frog in the pool and let Christopher deal with it. He wasn't home so I made everyone go inside.

Reese was FREAKING OUT!!! Remember, she's my pure emotion, drama queen! She wanted to know WHY the frog was dead. I was actually trying to figure it out myself. Two scenarios I can think of: one, the frog found our pool and was desperate for water, jumped in and then realized he couldn't jump out and drown; or two, the frog actually died in the grass mulch on the side of the house that the kids were picking up and throwing into the pool (notice all the grass in the pool pic?) and he got tossed into the pool as well. I don't know, either way, it wasn't pleasant and Reese was pretty distraught. I mean really.

I decided the only way to calm Reese down was to get the frog out of the pool and bury him to "send him to heaven". So, back outside we went, drained the pool, got the frog out with an empty saltine cracker box and had a grave side service for the little guy reluctantly named "Froggie".

I reminded Reese of the Plan of Salvation and that knowing we have a loving Father in Heaven, surely our little froggie friends would have a place in heaven too. This comforted Reese, but only after we sang a few songs and said a prayer.

We marked Froggie's grave with a rock and Reese picked a flower to place on top. She seemed happy with the results and glad that now "Froggie can go home to his family in heaven". What a smart girl!

After our services I rushed the kids inside to clean them and clean them GOOD! I haven't had a picture with all three kids in the bathtub (Gavin takes showers) in forever! So cute, and so CLEAN! Notice Reese with tears in her eyes again? That's b.c being in the tub reminded her that Froggie too had been in water and drown! Oh, boy! It never ends with this girl!

Hard Hat Required

I looked out the window and what did I see? (How many of you were almost about to sing "popcorn popping on the apricot tree" in your head? Just me? OK, I need to stay out of primary!) This little boy just as cute as can be! I swear he wears his helmet any chance he gets outside! Safety first with this little man, gotta admire that! I gave Gavin my camera with instructions to take pictures of Caden and his cuteness. These are what he brought back:

Walking the yard is a dangerous job, but someones gotta do it!

Is this close enough for you, Gavin?

You bet my head is wet with sweat under this heavenly helmet!

Gardening is a health hazard in our yard (notice how just about every plant is dead? we just have a lone pumpkin left!) and requires supervision from a man with a hard hat!

Dad, you've really got to do something about these weeds...geez!

Hot in the City

Friday evening we were about to grill up our fajita meat on the BBQ grill when Gavin came running in the house that there was massive smoke coming from the backyard. I'm thinking, oh something must be on the grill and is catching fire...no big deal. Gavin didn't let up though, saying that he wanted to get on the phone with 911. Christopher went outside to check up on his story and sure enough, this is what Gavin saw:

Um, yeah that isn't a little food stuck on the grill burning! We called 911 right away and I was so proud of Gavin b.c he knew all the right things to say and do.

I had Christopher and Gavin go investigate. One man thought it might be a safe idea to watch the fire burning from his roof... We were concerned that the house on fire was our dear friends the Kelley's and wanted to make sure they were alright.

We were grateful to know it wasn't the Kelley's house (Reese was sooooo concerned and crying!) The cops blocked off the street with the house on fire but that charred black building at the back of the fence (other side) is the house after the fire was mostly put out. (I can never count on Christopher to get the nitty gritty pictures I want!) We were also grateful to know that no one was home during the fire as well. The fire investigators believe it was electrical.

These pictures above are from the Forney Post. Yes, we are a small town, however we do have our own paper! The fire sure did make for some intense entertainment that night. We could see the flames from the fire (which were taller than the trees) from our backyard and this fire was at the very end of our LONG drive. The neighborhood was hoppin' that night! I mean, this is pure excitement for our little town. Everyone in the 3 neighboring developments came to watch it all unfold. Camera phones out in full display, lawn chairs out, ice cold drinks were shared. We even had a "cancer insurance" salesman make a pitch to us amid the madness and he would not leave us alone! Christopher is too nice...must be the salesman in himself!

Caldwell Zoo = YaaaaHoooooooo!

Alrighty then! Earlier this week we decided to hit up the Caldwell Zoo in Tyler to make up for the bust the Dallas Zoo was last week. There was still a sweltering heat and we were dripping with sweat from the humidity which made for a rancid zoo smell amongst the animals, however, we enjoyed ourselves quite a bit! Hey, we got to see animals and not fight for our lives in a sea of people. In fact, there were only 20+ cars in the parking lot! Yahoo!

Like my hat? I bought it at the zoo gift store thinking it might help keep me from getting heat exhaustion. 3 dollars, last forever baby!! (in my best Korean old lady accent...that was for you my goosey love!) Caden loved the petting zoo area of the zoo, particularly the goats. "So soft" he would say in his cute little toddler voice. Um, goat hair is the new "soft" I suppose. No thanks!

Right after Caden finished petting this goat (above pic) he immediately had to check out its rear end and just stared at it saying, "butt, butt, poop butt" over and over again! It was hilarious! He was so curious and we were so entertained that we didn't get a picture but did capture some video that sorta plays it out.

In the video Caden walks away from Gavin saying "goat" and then starts pointing and bending over to "check it all out" if you know what I mean. Then you hear "poop butt"! I still can't stop laughing! He's such a crack up and we encourage it!

Like Christopher's hat? He too bought one at the gift shop hoping for relief! The kids opted for spraying mist fans and got soaking wet. I'm sure you'll notice in pictures to come.

The kids loved the birds too. We kept to our family zoo protocol, got bird feed and fed the full to the brim birds.

Doesn't this tree "look like an Easter Egg tree?" Thanks Reese! I think it does indeed!

Gavin managed to coax a few birds out onto his feeder stick and was nice enough to hand 'em over to Caden to experience. Caden has gotten much better with the birds. He used to ignore all boundaries and chase them which ultimately forced us to leave early. Not anymore. Yay!

Reese, the birdie whisperer!

The kids then explored more of the outdoor animals and took all opportunities of drenching themselves with their mist fans to keep cool.

It was obvious the heat was getting to more than just us, the animals were out in few numbers, but there were always at least one from each group to represent.

Another Forney Five favorite...the white tigers. This particular tiger was quite aggressive in our last visit. He charged the glass and roared a vicious and frightening warning to stay away from his lady. In fact, (as later told by the zoo keeper) he was full of those teenage male hormones and wanted to challenge anyone who was near his woman. We left as he was scaring ME as I didn't want my babies eaten but was later told that he had to be given some shots to calm those ragin' hormones. YikeS!

Of course we had to get a shot of a Texas Longhorn. She's a Texas staple! Although, I do see more armadillo on the side of road (kill that is) than a Longhorn in my neck of the woods these days.

Kids were getting heat exhaustion and dragging their feet so we headed indoors.

Caden's sippy wasn't enough to keep him cool. It was time for a turbo soak!

Reese is no friend to a Texas Rattler, or any snake for that matter. She was nearly bitten by one almost two years ago on a trip down to San Antonio. We made a pit stop to get out and stretch and she got a little too close to a baby rattler. You know me, I kept my cool FREAKED OUT!!! Christopher was the calm, cool and collected one and managed to get her outta there and even smashed the snakes head! Our hero! It's OK Reese, I too think snakes good or evil are the spawn of Satan!

This picture (above) made for some great entertainment for the boys. They wanted front row seats. It was feeding time for these creatures, Gila Monsters (yes, monster, how cute!) and their food has to be alive or they aren't interested. He ate it just as a snake would. Fortunately, this was a small mouse being fed to this Gila Monster...unlike the RABBITS that were fed to a python!! We didn't watch that one!

There were some neat looking frogs both venomous and non. I thought of you Stacy and your love of frogs. Funny how a frog will make me think of you! HA!

The fish tanks and the turtle tanks were fun to watch as well.

We did a little more walking and Caden's little feet couldn't keep up any longer. He got the best ride in da house...the most coveted of them all...daddy's shoulders.

Caden's so stinkin' cute in Christopher's hat! Love the up the nostril shots!

And you KNOW our day couldn't have ended without one of these to make it just perfect:

Reese in all her spoiled little girl, tantrum glory! As if the zoo and her little stuffed animal gift wasn't enough, she just HAD to have a friend to go with it. (Which she didn't get!) LOVE the tear drop down the check! I'm blowing this pic up (after some photo editing) and hanging this in her room! What a girl, but I wouldn't trade her for anything! Never a dull moment, that's for sure!

Crackers Anyone?

OK, you ladies had me rolling with your comments from The Spud-licious Surprise post that I just had to post this picture! This is the bottom of my purse! I suppose I should have dug a little deeper! (I rarely visit the bottom of my purse.)

I assume goldfish, saltines and raisins are the standard for any mothers purse/diaper bag/carry all! Thanks for making me laugh and realizing nothing was out of the ordinary with this scene.

Good Food = Good Times

Christopher and I started a new project this past week (more on that soon!!!) and it has taken over my week!! I can't believe we are going into the end of this week already! Besides the project, I have been cookin' up a storm and trying new recipes from Our Best Bites which are super duper easy and impressively flavorful. Many of the ingredients needed are things you have would have around the kitchen and I love that.

I have experimented with most of the recipes. We made these tonight!!

BBQ Grilled Pizza using their dough recipe and even their suggested toppings.

That's right, this entire pizza from start to finish was prepared on the BBQ grill baby!!

And just for fun, because we had this for dinner last night and I took a picture. Well, tried to take a picture, their is much better. Spicy Honey Chicken is da BOMB!!

We just grilled the chicken and made a salad using romaine lettuce, red onion, tomato, avocado (which really compliments the spices in the chicken). We then dress it with a fresh lime juice drizzle. PERFECT!!! (We are lime addicts!) However, their Bermuda Vinaigrette is great as well.

Give Sara and Kate a try!! I'll be back with more of the Forney Five happenings...soon!

Spud-licious Surprise

We were on our way to a Friday night birthday bash and Christopher asked for his sunglasses that happened to be in my purse. As I dug around elbow deep in my suitcase of a hand bag I felt something small, round and a bit unlike something that should be in my purse. But, oh, wait, I'm a mom to an almost 2 year old son.

OF COURSE, I would pull out a potato!!! Every woman walks around with this favorite starchy group food in their purse...you never know when it might come in handy!!

After the spud find I started digging around for anything else that might surprise me. I found this little turtle!

NINJA TURTLE that is! Watch out!!! That means you dark ninja (Bean)!

So tell me ladies, what interesting surprises have you found in your purse from the little hands that rock your daily lives?!!? This is sure to be entertaining! Spare nothing. You can include having your little one find your tampons and opening them thinking their candy and start going to town on 'em. That was Gavin not too many years ago! Good times, good times!