Mother of the Year

Looks like I was DQ'd today for this award.

The day started off innocently enough. It was raining and actually a little cooler outside, and I had planned to take the kids to the grocery store to do some "back to school" lunchbox shopping for JD.

We loaded into one of the germ-mobiles that they have attached to the front of the grocery carts that all kids love and all mothers loathe. And we were off to the races.

Things went well as my helpers picked out yummy fruits and snacks for JD's lunchbox. About halfway through, Meg started yelping. I looked down, and it appeared that Meg's fingers were in JD's mouth with teeth marks on two of her fingers.

I pulled the cart over for a stern, but quiet lecture of "Don't Bite Your Sister Ever Again." I issued the threat of "we will leave the store if you do it again and you won't like what happens when we do."

Shopping resumes and we approach the checkout. And yes, my son decides to test out exactly how much pressure is required from his bite in order for Meg to scream. Ugh. I actually raise my voice at this point and start telling my son that he is in very big trouble and that I am very unhappy with him and a few other things that came out in the heat of the moment.

Yes - I became "The Yell-y Mother in the Store" that we all cringe when we shop around because she is yelling at her kids and it looks like the kids couldn't possibly be doing anything THAT bad to require yelling in a public place.

Well, I'm here to tell you that biting is THAT bad, especially when your son is starting preschool the next day and will get kicked out for such offenses. (Okay, enough of my guilty justification)

So I finish checking out and much to my frustration and chagrin, JD bites her AGAIN!!! Oh my goodness! My temper is totally flipped to the "red" mode now. And of course this is the time that the attendant chooses to reward my child's bad behavior by giving him stickers. Nice.

I take him out to the car and basically yank him into his car seat with a lot of yelling, but manage to gain my sanity and patience enough to not spank him then and there in the parking lot. I don't want to be THAT mother.

After loading the groceries, we spend the short trip home discussing WHY we don't bite and what happens when we bite and why it isn't nice to ever hurt someone and when we do, there is a punishment involved because it isn't GOOD behavior.

By the time we pull into the driveway, JD is begging to take a nap (in his mind that is a pretty terrible punishment, but not as bad as a spanking).

I had calmed down considerably by this time, so I was able to talk to JD rationally and explain why he was getting a punishment (but Mommy, I'm not a bad guy. No, you aren't a bad guy, but biting isn't good behavior. Let's be a GOOD guy instead).

And yes, JD took his medicine like a champ, promised not to bite again and gave out some hugs and sorry's to all offended parties.

So if you see me on You Tube this week, please cut me a little slack after hearing my side of things. And remember the next time you see a mom yelling in public, well, I don't know how to finish that statement because it might be me!

Colorado Part 2

Around July 3, we packed it up and headed into Colorado Springs to stay at the Broadmoor. Yes, we LOVE it there and this year was no exception.

The first thing we did was to have a family photo taken. Our last professional one was also at the Broadmoor when JD was 1, so it has been awhile.

Here is an out-take with the kiddos... That night, we all went out to eat at the Golden Bee, an old English Pub style restaurant. Meg and I dressed up for the occasion.

On July 4th, we spent some time at the pool, where JD got to ride the big superslide (albeit illegally since he was an inch too short) a couple of times. Meg and JD both enjoyed the baby pool for most of the morning.
Jon and JD went out for snowcones at the Broadmoor's Fourth of July carnival and jumped in bouncehouses and played while Meg and I rested.

We did the annual picnic and fireworks at Jon's grandparent's house in Manitou Springs. The kids stayed there so Jon and I could enjoy our anniversary the next day at the hotel.
Jon and I had a GREAT day relaxing and reading and eating on our anniversary! We had dinner reservations at the Penrose Room and had a fantastic dinner (if anyone asks, 4 courses is 1 too many). We danced to our song (Just the Way You Look Tonight). Eight awesome years together!!

The next day, it was back to the cabin. We loaded up for fishing with the Boyd group.

As you can tell by the "clouds of doom" behind JD, we were massively rained out pretty quickly. We were even hailed on as we hiked back the 1+ mile back to the car. (Meg was impressively quiet the whole way on my back!)

The next day, the Boyd's came out to fry up the fish and eat dinner. The guys had a tremendous pool table tournament that I think Papaw "Pool Shark" Boyd swept.

We couldn't get a good photo at this outing. :( Meg was just too tired.

Nathan and Dan hung out with us too, but don't worry, we put them to work...

So another great summer trip to Colorado!! Can't wait to go back!!

Cool in Colorado Part 1

Since I haven't posted in FOREVER, I felt like it was still appropriate to go back about a month and reminisce about our vacation in Colorado, where the temperatures were a cool 45 degrees at night and 85 during the day. Ahhh...

We enjoyed our annual visit to Colorado, just like every year. The only hiccup we had was that Meg just really doesn't sleep well up there for some reason. It took most of the trip to get her to sleep through the night there. My family all met up there again, so the cousins had a great time playing together!

We drove to Georgetown along a beautiful pass...

Then we got to Georgetown to ride the train!



Everybody panned for gold one day down in the creek by the cabin. Not sure they were very successful (it all looked like sand to me), but they had fun!

Stay tuned for Part 2 - Broadmoor, Fishing and Fun!

Blessed in Boyd Happiness

Two weekends ago we celebrated the marriage of Jon's little brother Joel and his new wife Mary.  We have known Mary for a very long time.  In fact, here's a little story...

First of all, Jon and I led "Rock Groups" in high school when we were first married.  Mary and Joel happened to be in the group together (not dating at the time).  So later, when we heard they were dating, we were excited for them.

When Jon and I found out we were pregnant with JD, it coincided with his older brother David's wedding.  So we decided to share the news over a family lunch at our house the day after the wedding.  Of course, his family didn't know that we were planning this.  At church, Joel approached and asked if he could bring Mary.  We didn't want to say no (seeing as this was one of the first times she had done anything with the Boyd family) and Mary came over for lunch.

As we were praying before lunch, we casually slipped in the baby news.  Everyone was so excited, of course, but Jon and I felt bad for Mary who had unknowningly stumbled into one of those "awkward family moments."  We both hope that she felt immediately part of the family from that point on!

So back to their beautiful wedding...they chose a very pretty park up in McKinney for the ceremony. 

The park allowed us to hold the rehearsal dinner there as well, so we had a "country-style" rehearsal dinner to fit in with the outdoor surroundings with Jon cooking the fajitas for the dinner.  Lots of fun and only a little bit hot!

Mary is a "do-it-yourself" gal and had made all of the decorations herself for the wedding, as well as picked out fabric and designed bridesmaids dresses, groomsmen boutiniers, bridesmaid bouquets of buttons and pretty items...the list goes on and on.  Amazing!

We were so happy to see Joel and Mary start off with such a beautiful wedding and wish them a lifetime of happiness...Boyd style of course!

A Much Belated Blog Post

Well, my big excuse is that I couldn't find my camera connection cord (which isn't a standard USB connection cord).  But of course, my sweet husband literally opened up a cabinet after 2 minutes of helping me hunt and there it was.  I spent at least 2 weeks looking for something that he found in 2 minutes.  And that is why I got married. 

Anyway, we had some major milestones over the past couple of weeks. 

JD had his last day of preschool! 

They had the cutest program with singing and dancing.  JD did such a great job!  I won't bore you with the video, but I have to say that JD was quite the singer and dancer!!  I loved it!

JD with some of his artwork over the year.  He was pretty proud of these projects. 

JD with his teacher Miss Lisa.  He has already been talking about her and how much he misses her! 

Meg and I enjoyed the brief spring weather during JD's last few days of school.  Too bad it is already 100 degrees!  It went so fast!

Meg wanted to try out JD's scooter.

She also learned some new dance moves and likes to strut her stuff!

So much fun!

Coming up...wedding activities!!

Sunday Afternoon

We had such a lovely afternoon outside in our backyard after church on Sunday.  The weather was perfect and we had a cool breeze drifting through, so we never got too warm.  I know we won't have very many days like this left until our backyard turns into a sauna, so we took advantage of it!

I hope there are many more afternoons like yesterday!!

Meg the Egg

We've got quite a few nicknames for Miss Meg (on top of the obvious one that is Meg, short already for Margaret)!

JD's favorite is Megger Beggers
Mine is MegaGirl
We also throw in Meg-ret, Meggy, Megster, Meggy Sue...list could go on forever!

Meg's cousin Madeline likes to call her "Egg," which I thought was very appropriate given the season!

So here are some Megger Egger Easter pictures!