Just keep swimming, just keep swimming...

We have had a couple of milestones in the past few days. First off, Eli and Jax love video games and the new Halo just came out. Although not many people in the family approve, Brian has been letting them play Halo. Both kids have gotten frags or kills. Brian is very proud. I'm not sure what I am.

Moving on, Eli has been playing soccer for 3 seasons now. The first two seasons were coed and we had two or three little girls on the team that were REALLY good. Eli was the kid on the team that although he was a head taller than everyone it was a challenge just to get him on the field, much less playing. There was talk of taking him out of soccer, trying a different sport, whatever. Brian and I were more in favor of keeping him in soccer for a while at least for the social aspect. The first two seasons were trying at best. Some games were downright painful. Each game has gotten a little better and there is definite improvement every season, but I didn't know if we would ever get Eli interested in the game. He liked the kids, enjoyed practice, but couldn't bring himself to get into the game. Well, I guess there were the two times that he pushed another kid down in retaliation for the other kid pushing his teammates down.

I'm not sure what happened this season. We have mostly boys on the team. The coaches are silly and have a great time with the kids (our last coach was great too, but in a different way). Eli is maturing and understands more. Anyway, today Eli got to kick the ball for the kick off... he scored a goal. Three seasons in and on the second game he FINALLY scores! He followed that up by driving an entire group of kids into the goal for another goal (I'm giving him credit). In the end he scored FOUR goals!!!!! Needless to say grammy, pawpaw, mom, and dad went bonkers! It was awesome!

It is so fun to see them grow in so many ways. Eli is working hard at learning to read, playing soccer, helping around the house some, and so many other things. It really is an exciting time. I learn with Eli and then know what to expect with Jax. I can't wait to see how Jax does over the next year. Very fun day today!

Sea World AGAIN!

Happy Birthday Paul and Krissy!

This past week we had two family birthdays (Kristin and Paul). Kristin is currently in Florida preparing for 6 months on a cruise ship. It is really difficult work, but someone has to do it. We celebrated her birthday in August before she left. So this past weekend we focused on Paul. I'm certain his true birthday wish was to go to Sea World. He didn't really say that, but I could tell. You may start to notice that we create reasons to do fun stuff in this family.

Friday, my company paid for everyone to take their family to the fair. Since we were already planning to go to Sea World my parents were able to join us. We basically stopped by the fair and wore the kids out for a couple of hours before the drive to San Antonio. The kids had SOOO much fun!
The kids were worn out from the fair and slept pretty well on the drive. I downloaded some new songs for the trip. Eli and Jax were so excited that I put the Theme from Star Wars on my phone. They request it every time we get near the car. Thankfully it is a great piece of music.

Saturday, we were at Sea World for 7 hours! This is us after the Shamu "Believe" Show. Shamu drenched us!!!I thought the kids would be totally worn out much sooner than that, but they found alternative means of transportation for much of the day. We had a great time! Jaxon and I loved the new show Azul with dolphins, beluga whales, divers, acrobats, birds, and swimmers. Eli and Brian like the rollercoaster. My parents got Eli and Jax whale tail necklaces, and they didn’t take them off all weekend.

Saturday night we had Mexican Food on the Riverwalk. Yup, it was just as good as you might guess. We had a lot of food left over and Eli told me we needed to get a “tickle box”. He was so tired he was falling asleep in his chair. On the way back to the hotel we decided that the birthday cupcakes would be more appreciated as breakfast birthday cupcakes. We woke up and had our breakfast birthday cupcakes while Paul opened his gifts. Then we drove to Austin to watch the Texans vs. Cowboys game. Yay Cowboys… FINALLY!

By the time we got home, Jaxon and Eli were both upset that the weekend was over. The rest of us were worn out! I wish all weekends were this fun!

Mom, Where do babies come from?

There is a back story necessary in this tale. Today I got a call from Eli's teacher. It seems he was in an altercation at school. The teacher told us that he pushed a boy, and the boy then punched Eli in the stomach. As far as Eli tells the story, Chase pinched him at center time and then hit him later in the day. He conveniently can't remember doing anything to provoke either incident.

While driving around tonight, this was my conversation with Eli:

Eli: Mommy, did you and daddy pick me out?
Mommy: Uh, not exactly honey. You always belonged to mommy and daddy.

Eli: How did you and daddy get me?
Mommy: Um... well... uh... Well you know Mrs. Britney is growing a baby in her tummy... well you grew in my tummy.

Eli: Did you split me out?
Mommy: (pause)... um... No, you got too big and the doctor took you out.

Eli: Did Jaxon grow in your tummy too?
Mommy: Yes, and he got too big and the doctor took him out too.

Eli: Did I play with Jaxon in your tummy?
Mommy: No, you weren't in my tummy at the same time.

Eli: Did I see your food?
Mommy: No, Eli it is too dark and you were inside... something.

Eli: Did I play with you?
Mommy: Yes, you kicked me sometimes.

Eli: I'm sorry mommy. Did it hurt like when Chase hit me?
Mommy: No, Eli you were a little baby. You didn't hurt me.

Eli: Mom, I'm sorry I got in trouble and the teacher called you.
Mommy: Me too.

Jaxon at the very end: Mommy I don't want to go in your tummy!

So, that my friends is how the 4 year old mind works!

SOOO Not ready for this!!!

It has recently occurred to me that things are really changing in our household. Brian has become handy. I mean hands-in-the-dirt fixing sprinkler systems and using augers to clear drains kind of handy. Yay!!!! This is a change I can totally get use to!!! As if that isn't enough to adjust to, I sense a change in the kiddos as well. They are truly little boys. There is very little toddler left in them. It felt like it would take forever to get them out of diapers and away from sippy cups. Now that we are beyond all of that, I realize I didn't really consider what the next phase would be.

Eli is sort of starting kindergarten. He is only 4, but we are putting him in my mom's kinder room for the year. She is an amazing teacher and I've always wanted her to teach my kids. I didn't however want to make my kids miss out on a year at their elementary school so this is my middle ground. Eli is already reading 3 letter words and sounding out 4 letter words so he is ready. Heaven knows he is tall enough. He is easily the youngest in the class and still a head taller than all the other kids. I'm also very proud to report that he tested very high and will be in the highest reading group!

Jaxon is now going to school for a couple of hours every day. He loves it. This will also be his first soccer season. I managed to get Jaxon onto Eli's team (because they are so close in age). Jax is so ready. The benefit to being a younger brother is getting to learn things sooner. He is growing up at the same rate as Eli (just a year and a half younger).

I've never been the type of mom that was tearful when returning back to work after the birth of my kids. I didn't cry the first time we dropped them off at a day of preschool. I'm sentimental, but I wouldn't say I go as far as probably a lot of moms out there. Am I ready for the tooth fairy to visit? Nope, I'm not. Don't get me wrong - I'm not ready to say that I wish I would have treasured potty training time for the right of passage that it clearly was... I'm glad we are to this point, but I'm really not sure how we arrived here quite so quickly! Maybe by the time Eli starts what I will consider his real kinder year I'll be ready... probably not. Thankfully, I have a year to get use to the idea.

Mammaw Douthit

I don't know where to start. This past Wednesday Brian's grandmother passed away. She was such an amazing woman. I know everyone says that after a person dies, but let me tell you a little about her. She was married for almost 60 years, had 5 children, and 17 grandchildren. She believed that taking care of the home and all the people in it were her biggest responsibility. She was very short in stature, but she was able to get anything done she set her mind to.

Gene was a doctor and Doris felt that his work was important enough that he shouldn't be bothered by the little things at home. I never heard her complain about the challenges of raising 5 kids with a very busy husband. I heard stories of her taking them camping, preparing treats for school, making new dresses overnight, and all that is in addition to her normal cooking and cleaning for a large family. Oh, and did I mention that she did a lot of this while living in Korea?!

Doris thought the world of her grandchildren. When I came into the family, I remember encouraging her to get her grandchildren to help her with chores. She refused saying she wanted them to enjoy themselved and each other. It was her greatest wish that the family always be close. She still did EVERYONE'S laundry (including my own when I was there). She cooked for a million people. If she knew that you liked a particular dish, you could count on eating it while you were there. Everything at her house was wonderful. Food tasted better, there was peace even in the midst of chaos, and she loved with true unconditional love that you didn't need to earn. From the moment I met her, at the time as Brian's friend, she took me into the family as one of her own. I always joked that I married him for his family and she was a big reason for that. In the summertime, all her grandchildren would come live with her for months and she taught them the same lessons she taught her children. Brian and all his cousins grew into amazing adults in part because they never wanted to disappoint their grandparents.

Doris also had a calling outside of her home. She was touched by the Korean people. She decorated with Korean art and pottery, she spoke the language fluently, and she loved the culture and food. We never wore shoes into her house. You'd always see a pile of hundreds of shoes by the door. She created a outreach program through South Main Baptist Church, that ministered to Korean women. She would help women learn English, teach them to drive, and anything else they needed to learn to integrate fully into our culture. She was director of this program for over 30 years.

Finally, Doris was the best Christian I've ever known. She didn't speak badly of anyone... ever. She was hit by a man on a motorcycle and almost killed. She experienced pain for the rest of her life because of that accident. She forgave the man immediately and never complained of the pain. Doris didn't gossip, but she did pray. She prayed for everyone. She never asked for anything for herself, but I've heard stories of all the things she would get for other people. Doris didn't sit down often. She very quietly worked away daily at everything that needed to get done not once asking for a thank you. There were 3 preachers at her service (each of them knew her and the family), and I got the impression they were nervous. I'm guessing the reason is because even they didn't want to let her down.

I guess by now you understand that I looked up to her very much and loved her as if she were my own grandmother. There is no way I'll live up to her example. She created such a beautiful family, and she would have been so proud of them this past week. The Douthits have great pride in their family. It annoyed me at first, but this past week it came together for me that part of what we are proud of is being part of her legacy. It was a privilege to know her, and an even greater honor to be part of the beautiful family she raised.

A Patriotic Outing

This past weekend was thankfully pretty quiet. My parents kept the kids ALL DAY on Saturday so Brian and I got tons of stuff done... we had a nice grown up lunch, we went shopping, we took a nap. We had tons of things we could have done that would have been productive, and I'd like to say we did at least one of those things. We didn't. It was awesome!

On Sunday, I decided that it was finally time to take Papaw over to the War Memorial by his house. My cousins and I got him a brick for Christmas this year. The memorial was officially opened on Memorial weekend, but we hadn't been by there yet. I have to say that it was really fun. We went and picked Papaw up. He wasn't expecting us, but he jumped out of his chair and off we went. The people who put the memorial together were fairly wise about it. There are no steps or obstacles to keep veterans away. They add new bricks every year on Memorial Day. It is very pretty even from a distance, and up close it is a great place to reflect. Papaw had a great time. The kids didn't understand, but had a great time anyway. I really enjoyed looking over all the bricks. I really like this way of honoring people who have served in the military (local and tangible).

Then last night we went swimming. My kids are officially fish! We got some fun under water shots! I'm working on not completely freaking out when the kids take a dive and are under water for longer than 5 seconds. It really goes against everything in me to let them play under water, but I'm so relieved to know they can handle themselves at least a little near water.

Finally!

I finally feel like I'm ready to get caught up. The past month was crunch time. The type of month where things only get done if it is a necessity. I'm not sure why it felt so busy, but it did. The good news is that my granddad is healthy again, the kids can swim (sort of), I have graduated from all the Wilton Cake Decorating classes, and another Douthit cousin has found a woman willing to put up with him for eternity. Congrats to Andrew and Leah!

A large portion of the Douthits were in town for the wedding. We had so much fun. There is always 100 things going on at once. Some of the craziest moments are when we are mobilizing. Making sure that everyone is in a car going to a single place is hysterical. I'm not sure how we have avoided our own home alone story for this long. Simply deciding who would stay in which hotel rooms was pretty entertaining. Everyone wants to be with everyone all the time. I'm so glad that my kids are experiencing this. I know realistically someday these get togethers won't be as common and some kids born into the family in the future won't have these same experiences.

It is SOOO fun to watch Eli and Jaxon with the family. I can't even describe how much fun they have. Both of my boys are somewhat shy with adults. They get to the point with the family where they don't have a clue who is holding them (or throwing them) and they don't even care! They are already asking me to go to Houston for a visit because they know that is where the largest gatherings of people are. Anyway, these get togethers with the family is such a fun time for Brian and me, I'm glad that our kids will have some of these memories themselves.

This is Gene (Brian's paternal grandfather) and me at the wedding. He is the patriarch of the Douthit Clan. He and his wife Doris will be married for 60 years next month! He has 5 kids, 17 grandkids, and 4 great grandchildren (with another one on the way).

The Fourth of July was really fun. We had a Douthit brunch before everyone left town, then Brian's family ended up over at my parent's house for a cook out. My grandfathers were there too! The highlight was Elizabeth bringing her violin. I had begged all weekend for her to play, and she finally caved! We got her to play some patriotic music, classical music, and "Axel F". Ya, you read that right. Eli and Jax LOVE "Axel F" by Crazy Frog (the song from the 80 movie, but redone by a singing frog). That was pretty much the highlight of my day. I have all of this on video! Eli had a fake microphone that he sang "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" while Elizabeth played. ADORABLE! We all ended up in the pool and hot tub after dinner. Tanner, Brian, and my boys had a great time swimming. The rest of us tried to stay out of the line of fire as best we could : )