A few recent pics

Have you ever seen a better center piece?

Evan sits up there for dinner until he decides he needs to be held.

Here he is exhausted. he touches his face when he's
tired and usually falls asleep with a hand over his eye.

Lucas wrote this happy "B" the other day. He's doing pretty well at writing his letters.
We're headed to Florida tomorrow. Lucas disappeared for a few minutes today and I found him happily packing his suitcase. Included are: cars, Easter eggs, his craft from Primary last week, stickers, his pull ups, swim diapers for Evan, razors, underwear, swimsuits, the remote control and my cell phone... and many many more things.

Potential

I know for a fact that this little angel was saved just for our family. I don't think anyone else could handle all the grabbing, poking, roaring, and intense affection. Evan handles all of it quite well, even with a smile and a laugh. I love little man so much - he makes my day. I know that he has infinite potential and it's up to me to provide him with an environment in which he may thrive. He is awesome.

On another note, we had a good weekend. Yesterday we hit up the Renegade Craft Fair in Austin. It was pretty cool. We bought something from Olaria Studio and I want to buy a necklace from Toast Jewelry some day when I have an extra $60... and then a little bird necklace from Figs & Ginger when I have an extra $74.

The boys were both good at the fair. Lucas was occupied by a tootsie pop and Evan chilled in the Baby Bjorn and eventually fell asleep. It was nice to not have the naughtiest kids in the crowd!

After the fair we headed to Threadgill's for lunch. This was our second venture there and once again it blew. That's our limit - no more Threadgills. The place has been around since the 30's and everyone in Austin loves it, but I'm afraid they all have poor taste. I think the real problem is that we are trying to remain slightly health conscience and the good stuff is mostly likely the chicken fried steak, etc. Ben got a veggie plate, which was full of cheese and fat, and I got a ham and cheese sammy to share with Lukie. Neither were impressive. The rolls were gross, and the booths were so tight that a person who frequented such a restaurant wouldn't be able to fit in them. Anyhow, enlighten us if you are a fan.

Funny Stuff:
Today at church I took Evan to the back of the chapel where he fell asleep so I just sat down in the back row for a minute. Lucas and Ben came walking back, headed to the bathroom. Lucas said loud and clear, "Mom, I'm going to go poop!" for all to hear. He got a chuckle from that part of the room.
A few weeks ago we needed to find something. Lucas and I decided to say a prayer to see if we could find it. We did. Now Lucas wants to say a prayer every time something is lost. The other day he said a prayer when he lost a piece of the remote (I found it!). He's so funny when he says prayers because sometimes he refers to himself in the third person, "Please bless Lucas that he can be a good boy," etc. And last night I was putting him to bed and he said "Please bless Mommy that she can have Lucas time tomorrow." I thought that was really sweet. I hope we had some good Lucas/Mommy time today.
Oh, and tonight at dinner he kept putting peanuts in his milk. He said, "If I put this in my milk, I will grow weed!" Hmmmm. Eventually Ben drank some of L's milk (gross!) and Lucas got mad and said, "Ah, now I have to cook some more!" And he stirs the peanut in with a carrot stick.

That's all for now. It's nighty night time... or at least it should be.

Train and Videos

This evening I surprised Lucas by taking him downtown on the new commuter rail. We met up with Ben, had delicious crepes for dinner, then Ben took Lucas back on the train, while I drove with Evan. Lucas had a good time on the train, asked way too many questions about all the bells & whistles, etc, and was louder than anyone appreciated, I'm sure. For a mere $2 it wasn't a shabby way to spend the evening.

Here are a couple funny videos of Lucas.
For Lisa: Here is Lucas opening a present my sister sent when he first went poop on the potty. We had him save it until he was a pooping pro:

After I cut the video off, he said, "I love you Lisa. Have a good day at work!"
And here is a vid from Saturday when Lucas was deliriously eating his M&M's in the car with Ben:

Week in Review (a long one...)

The last week (10 days, really) has been crazy. I auditioned for a job that was supposed to film last weekend. But then it got moved to Monday and Tuesday, which wouldn't work so well with the kids. The casting directors were supposed to decide by Friday who they would hire. I didn't hear anything so I was relieved, but disappointed at the same time. On Saturday afternoon we had a lovely time washing the car as a family. Lucas was a big help washing the places that had already been rinsed. Then he enjoyed "bamming" dirt clods with a hammer. We're lucky he didn't seriously "bam" himself. I went inside at one point with Evan. I checked the computer to discover that I had indeed gotten the part. I immediately started crying. Yes crying. I went outside and said, "Baby, I got that part... and I'm crying." Ben congratulated me and assured me that my children would live through a day without me.
Saturday night I went with some friends for my Mother's Day facial. It was heavenly. And my skin seriously looks better. I got home that night to discover that Ben had a horrible evening with the boys. Evan cried the whole time and Lucas was insane due to exhaustion. This didn't give me much optimism for Monday and Tuesday.
Sunday afternoon I continued to cry like a crazy person - seriously crazy. Like baby blues crazy. I couldn't find anyone to watch my kids and the firm hadn't gotten back to me about what time or location to for the next day. Finally at 9:00 I had all the info. I managed to get Andrea to watch the boys for the Monday morning, then Ben came home for the afternoon. And Vanessa was down for Tuesday.
Monday I was up at 5:00 with Evan. I never really went back to sleep. Ben headed to Andrea's with the boys at 7:30, I headed to Buda at 7:40... I was late. I got lost and got to the set a little late. They were filming 4 different spots so it was completely insane. We filmed in a couple of model homes. There was cardboard all over the floor, crew everywhere, hair and makeup in the garage, and important looking people walking around with walkie talkies. Everyone there as cooler than me, too. Ya know, the kind of guys that can get away with wearing denim capris, black Converse, a black hoodie, with a scarf and a beanie, and look totally normal. Well, that was just one guy, most of the other ones just wore normal black clothes, but had bizarre facial hair of some sort.
Anyhow, I was whisked into hair and makeup. got a quick manicure and then ran upstairs to start filming. The boy playing my son was a cute kid, named Andrew, who did a great job. We worked hard all morning. Poor Andrew was asking me what time it was starting at 11:30 and lunch wasn't until 2:30.
After a long day of shooting, waiting, pumping in my car (model homes don't have doors on the bathrooms), shooting, and waiting some more, I left at about 8:30. I was done! Then the girl came running after me remembering that I did indeed have more to shoot the next day.
Tuesday I didn't go in until 3:30. I dropped my kids off with Vanessa and headed to a hotel for this shoot. I went to hair and makeup, got a little manicure, addressed some baby announcements, and waited and waited. Finally at 5:30 we started shooting. I got to drive a car for this part. Today I had two kids who had to pretend to fight. (See, this was so easy for me - I just had to be a ticked off mom the whole time!). The kids were both ultra-impressed by the Ford Flex we drove, mostly because you can change the color of lights in the cup holders.
After our drive we headed inside. The kids started to change when someone came running after us because we had to do still shots also, so we went out again. I think I headed home at 7:30 that day.
I had a lot of fun on my little adventure. Going into it, I thought I would never do it again, but I learned that babies do survive a day without their mothers. Plus, it's fun to get out and do something for a day or two! To have people tell you you're doing a good job and get a sense of accomplishment. It's not that my boys don't appreciate me, because they do. It's just nice to have a reminder that you are someone besides a cook, cleaner, feeder, and disciplinarian sometimes. That said, I was soooo excited to get to stay home on Thursday and make cookies with Lucas. I wanted to do it Wednesday, but I had another audition... didn't get that gig.
That brings us to Friday. I don't remember a thing about Friday, so it must have been an ok day. I think Lucas messed up his train table, which has been an everyday occurrence, but that's ok.
Saturday Ben worked his bum off aerating the yard. He took Lucas on some errands with him. Lucas was rewarded with M&M's at one point. When asked if he would share with Ben, Lucas said, "I like to share, Dad, but I like to share with myself." Me too, Lucas. Me too.

Perhaps the biggest news of all is that Lucas is officially potty trained! It's been a long time coming. A loooong time. But now he's a total stud. No more fears, no more accidents. We still have to get the nighttime stuff down, but heck, as long as I'm not changing two kids' diapers anymore, I'm a happy camper!

In other Lucas news, he has discovered the wealth of kid's games on the interweb. He loves them. He'll spend hours on the computer if we let him... I try not to, but sometimes when your baby wants to be awake in the middle of the night, computer games seem pretty good. They're educational after all!

Evan is still cute as ever. He's so happy and sweet and big. I love him. We need to work on getting more cute pictures of him. His smiles make my heart happy, except when it's the middle of the night and he's supposed to be asleep. Then I get a little irritated, but he's still cute.

This last picture of Lucas is from today. We went to the park and all the kids ended up searching for rocks in the bark. Lucas collected all the rocks in his pockets, then displayed them when we got home.

Mothers

When I was little I thought my mom could do anything. Literally anything. If there was a test at school that I didn't want to take, I really frustrated me that she couldn't make it go away. When I got cut from the volleyball team, it didn't seem right that she couldn't fix it. I thought she had control of the whole world - like she was some sort of super hero.

She was just the best. Even as a teenager I still thought she was pretty awesome and I wasn't ever embarrassed by her.

My mom has an ability to tell if someone is a creep or not. She was always right - you should all take her on your first dates to save yourself some time.

I remember when I was little and I got croup. Eventually we ended up at the ER because my throat was so constricted - I thought I was was gonna die. The doctor administered a breathing treatment, and I was better. After that, my parents always knew what to do when I got croup. I remember thinking and seriously worrying about who would take care of me when I got married if I got sick. What man would ever be as smart as my parents? What would I ever do without them in the middle of the night? Who besides my dad would take the time to build a little foil extension on my humidifier so the steam would go right to my face. Who would think to check on me in the night? I honestly worried about these things at the ripe old age of 9 or 10.

Thanks to my parents, I learned how to be more self-sufficient. I learned how to take care of my own croupy cough. I learned responsibility, a good work ethic, to take pride in my home and family. I learned how to love unconditionally, to be sensitive, and how to be patient.

I only hope that my own boys will look up at me as a super hero of their own. I hope they see me as someone to help them achieve their dreams, take their hurts away, and love them no matter what.

The other day Lucas asked me how I got so smart. I'm pretty sure I learned everything from my own Mom.

So, on this Mother's Day, thank you Mom for being so wonderful. For working your whole life to make your kids' and their kids' lives better. Thank you for feeling sorry for me even when I was faking, for always making me feel special, for not disowning me when I was a teenager, and for teaching me how to be a mother. Thanks for marrying Dad so I could be raised by a good man. Thank you for being there when Lucas and Evan were born. I don't know what I would have done without you.

Oh, and thanks for teaching me to make a killer batch of toffee. Some day it will get us on Oprah, I'm sure.
Happy Mother's Day!
Love, Suzy

A Better Way

Today I was dropping Lucas and Evan off at a friend's house. Lucas was out on the front porch picking his nose. Vanessa asked if he would like a tissue and he said, "No, picking my nose works better."