And there goes August...

August is out the window and that means school started, potty training has started, and we have about 3.75 months til we meet our little girl. We also didn't spend much time at home, either. We were gone almost the entire month in Midland, Odessa, Houston, New Mexico and then a cross country trip to Iowa to see my Grandmas. I updated Instagram pretty regularly-so if you follow there you knew all this though :)   Midland/Odessa was for Jeff's job, Houston was for my sisters baby shower and the Wicked show, and New Mexico was for a super fun camping trip.

We managed to have a really great summer. Jeff enjoyed his internship with a fracing company, I enjoyed the paychecks, and Tristan enjoyed the pool hotel. We enjoyed spending most of our summer at my brother's house, where Tristan made his first real best friend. Someone he asks for, shares with and could spend every minute of every day with... his cousin Hannah. Inseparable on his part, ok being separated on her part :) Occasionally she would have a "baby of the family" melt down and want him to leave her alone. He would come get Tonia or I and drag us to the corner she was hiding in and try to make us make her play with him. It was pretty funny, but overall they were good friends. Tristan never got a drink or snack without holding his hand out for a second treat for Hannah. He even took his last piece of gum and broke it in half to share with her. It was a cute summer, and now when he sees a white van go by he mentions her name.

I'm finally past the chubby point of pregnancy to the point people are constantly asking if Tristan will be having a new brother or sister. No one has asked if I am going to "pop" yet, which is nice, because that already started with Tristan at this point. I can see my face getting chubby already though. But aside from that, this has been another easy pregnancy.

Jeff started school this week and we miss him already. His classes are always hard so we are not expecting to see him very much. *sigh* Having him all to ourselves for a couple weeks was awesome. I think there were a few points we laughed til we almost peed ourselves and he was pretty much the ring leader of fun with all the kids on our roadtrip. And that, in a nut shell, is August for us.  Hopefully we update this blog more in September!  

Kids Triathlon

Tonia and I were looking for a race or something fun to do when she saw there was a triathlon for the kids. The kids sounded interested so she signed them up and then made them run 3 miles a day, every day, for a month.

Just kidding. The morning of the triathlon they were nervous, but they did really well anyway! They started with the swim...

Then got ready for the bike...

All 2 miles of it! They had been doing 3 mile bike rides the whole time they trained so they were pleasantly surprised when it was a lot shorter.

Then they ran!

And ran...

While being cheered on by the whole fandamily...

And one crazy lady with a baby ;) They finished really strong and were so proud! And of course, so was everyone else. They worked really hard and pushed themselves to do their best. Eliora even ran her fastest mile, after swimming AND biking. Then we celebrated with a 8,000 calorie feast at Ihop. Because you know, cheering was hard work.

July 4th

Happy Fourth of July! It was such a fun day.... our plans began the day before when Ben and Tonia came up with all the kids the night before. We painted our nails and watched Captain America, while narrating the entire movie for the kids who couldn't figure out what was going on. Which was all of them. And they all asked questions at every. Single. Scene.

The next morning we were all up bright and early to go to the parade.

Tristan loved it. Loved the noise. Loved the stuff being thrown. Loved his cousins.

Loved matching with all of them :) They were all so cute.

We almost missed the beginning of the parade trying to braid all 5 girls hair into stars. Fortunately I attended 7 years of girls camp, so I could braid tiny braids fairly quickly. Sadly, I was not coordinated enough to figure out which one was tied to what other one. It's a good thing Tonia was there and did the other 4 girls hair.

After the parade we went to the festival... the largest one in the West! They had booth after booth of food and drinks and bouncy houses. We only did this one because the lines for the other ones were waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. And we had to go get that famous custard ice cream.

We had to show off our nails. I still haven't taken my nail polish off-it got dumped down the tub drain by some kid and I can't remember to buy more. Eesh! After we got home from the festival everyone took a nap. Then we ran over to the pool and swam for a few hours.

After swimming we ate. The food was soooooo good. Tonia did her famous pulled pork sandwhiches. I did apple nachos.

And homemade pie. We had so much food it didn't even get eaten til we went and watched fireworks!

Tonia did this edible flag. Loved it. Tristan ate the entire bowl of blueberries and pooped green for days.

He also took a bath in watermelon.

We brought Sushi and Chunky to watch the fireworks. Safely hiding under the seats in the van.

The kids (we grabbed the 4 kids down the street and took them with us) did a hula contest and ate 3 pounds of popcorn and dodged fireworks being shot off by the drunk people next to us.

Then we watched fireworks and went home.

Best. Day. Ever.

Why I got Tackled By an Grouchy, Ugly Old Woman

The second season of soccer has started, and I'm happy to say we won our game tonight.  I would have cried bitter tears if we hadn't.  You see, I am not competitive.  Unless, of course, someone I don't like really wants the same thing as me and I know I can have it.  Then I take it because I am a brat like that.  Only I like to play all innocent when I do it.  I know.  I'm secretly evil.
Our team is mostly young moms who are really sweet girls.  So are most of the teams we play, although occasionally words get exchanged and people shove.  I think most of you know that yes, I can be nice, but if you start something..... well, I'll finish it.
The team we played tonight was half young girls, and half old hags older women.  They were not very good, so they played mean. I don't play that way.  I don't have medical insurance so I avoid physical contact if at all possible. In indoor soccer some shoving is usually acceptable so long as there is a ball you claim you are fighting over.  The women we played tonight were very, very physical.  After we scored one of the older women shoved me for no reason.  I kindly informed her, "You are too old to be playing like that!"  She looked at me like she was going to choke me, and then said, "That wasn't very nice."  Because she was a very mature, matronly grandmother type and knits in her spare time, and then donates the blankets to the homeless, while bottle feeding puppies who have lost their mothers.

Actually, she said, "@##$ you, #$T#&;%." And then kicked a small child who had wandered onto the field.
I rolled my eyes and said, "Whatever."  Because I know that bothers adults when kids don't care what they say.  As I said, I am very mature.
Then a few minutes later because I was dying and thought I was going to have a heart attack decided to sub out.  As I ran into the dug out...  Is it a dug out in soccer? I'm going to call it a dug out. Anyway, as I ran into the dugout I said, "Whew! I am out of breath!"

Another member from the opposite team, who was not the woman with bad highlights that shoved me, leaned over and said something like, "Yeah, well at least we all have our breath!" Or something to that affect (I would hope so, they could have qualified for oxygen tanks).  I think one of our team mates said, "OK, whatever."  She didn't know the exchange this other lady and I had.  And then the old bat got really mad, so she leaned over to me and snarled, "You called my friend a "bad word!!!" 

Uh, no I didn't.  I called her old.  So I very sweetly corrected her, "No I didn't, I called her old!"  

And then the half time buzzer went off and everyone piled in the dug out while she was still screaming pleasantries at me.  I tried to continue the conversation, but was told I had to be quiet and not say anything because we are a nice team. 
And that's why the old woman ran across the field after the kick off and shoved me so hard I fell over backwards.

And that's why the younger girl who grunted like a gorilla every time she got the ball kicked me.

And that is why someone else elbowed me so hard my arm is bruised and it hurts to type.

And that is why the referee called fouls on all of them, and we scored every time.  And won by 6 points..

Victory was exceptionally sweet tonight, and I didn't have to say anything else when there was a 6 foot score board all lit up to do the talking for me. 

The Senator

Jeff loves to be politically informed. Meaning, he spends enough time reading the news on his phone he could have answered enough trivia questions to win us tickets to Nitty Gritty Dirt Band tonight. That's why it didn't surprise me when he wanted to run for a spot with Student Government. I was pretty impressed, he had a great campaign, and when it came time for election, ended up in a run off with another kid. They each got 66 votes. When they had to vote again Jeff won with 45 votes more than the other kid. Of course, I think it helped that he had a picture of Tristan and him on his campaign flyer. Shameless. I know.Anyway, we went to the banquet dinner they held to swear in all the new officers and say goodbye to the old. I just know that I'm upset because they didn't bring the chocolate dessert tray out til after I had already grabbed one of the fruit ones. I was going to use the excuse, "Oh I need one for the baby..." and grab another, but Tristan was at home. With his first sitter. I mean, he's been babysat tons before, but last night was the first night I actually called and paid a kid to come to our house and watch our baby. Crazy, huh.When Jeff saw me grab the camera he voiced his concern I'd take too many pictures and embarrass him. I promised I wouldn't, but I couldn't help myself. He was just so cute. Besides, he couldn't say anything when he was being sworn in, so I could do whatever :)I think I am going to get him some letterhead that says, "From the desk of Senator Tew." Or maybe a rubberstamp with his credentials. Tristan and I can get matching shirts that say, "We live with the Senator!" Ha. Just kidding. But being serious, gotta love Jeff. He's such a hard working guy and he is so cute all dressed up!

There's No Place Like Home-Wizard of Oz

Today my church held a big dinner to celebrate the organization of the Relief Society. They chose the theme, "There's No Place Like Home" and centered everything around the Wizard of Oz. I volunteered to decorate a table.... and since it might be the only time I have a chance to make these cupcakes (of course, I saw them on Pinterest), I jumped on it. Since I was babysitting and had a few extra kids, I opted for the easiest way to make these. I bought a box of cake mix, cream cheese frosting, Sour Punch Straws, and Starbursts.

In between refereeing sessions over the wooden train set, I cut each straw into six pieces, and cut the Star Bursts in half.

Then I squished the Starbursts into shoe shapes and stuck them on the straws. Then the 2 year old and the 4 year old saw their chance. One would distract me while the other snuck into the kitchen and steal a shoe or leg and run off before I noticed. At one point I thought I was going crazy because I'd think to myself, "I swear I had more than these..." or "Um that's weird. These should be in groups of two? Where's the other one?" They were so sneaky it took me forever to figure it out. Dang kids! I saw one woman made the legs with hard candy and made the shoes out of fondant, but I'd rather eat a Starburst than fondant.

Since each cupcake would need it's own little support, I took the envelopes from my free 8x10's I printed at WalGreen's last week and covered them in foil. Had I wanted to be extra cute I would have covered them in my shiny pink wrapping paper, but that would have required tape, scissors and working around 3 kids who were obsessed with my every move. Since Looney Toon's was ending soon, I opted for foil.

Then I squished a cupcake on top of the witch's legs. That was the funnest part.

This is how they looked on the table... I liked it. The cupcakes were great bribery in filling the table up in about 2 seconds. Everyone loves a cupcake.There were a ton of cute decorations...

But this one was my favorite. Sonia-this is the Emerald City of all wrapping-paper-tubed-Emerald Cities.

This one was cute-the sign says something like "Love Begins at Home..."

I wanted to steal the puppy from this basket.

And I wanted the picnic basket from this one.... "Hey Boo-BOo! Let's go get a pic-a-nic bass-ket!"Where they got all this stuff I will never know, but it was cute. There were quite a few other tables, but I just wanted to give an idea of how cute this was set up.

They served ham, funeral potatoes, two different kinds of salads and rolls. So good!

The salad had strawberries. I love strawberries. And they had a big ol' cake. It's not a party without cake. Unless you are turning 21. Then you just want liquor and cake seems silly. Unless you don't drink. Then it seems like a good idea unless you're the only one eating it.

Everyone got a cute name tag. Mine spent the night sticking to my hair more than my shirt. I would have pulled it off but then I would have had to pull out 3 individual hairs so I just left it on and didn't move my head. I like my hair attached.

Super good evening! They also had a darling skit, some great music, and of course, a great speaker. We talked about how the Relief Society is dedicated to service to others and to helping each person develop their own relationship with God. It was nice.

I had to peace out early to go to play with my indoor team. We played the white team again. Oh. Yes. We did. I found my little friend and in true Christ-like manner, taunted her again. It was fun.

Southern Hospitality

The people here in Lubbock are some of the kindest I have ever met. I am not sure if it's because we live in the bible belt and everyone is Christian, or there is something in the water, everyone is just incredibly kind. I am used to Houston where for the most part, people are nice. It's how it is in the South. People are just nice. I hear it all the time from people who visit, "Wow, Texan's are just so nice!" It really is true. But Lubbock is something special.

On Wednesday I left the mall and completely spaced where I parked. I wandered around for twenty minutes looking for the van when I finally decided it was stolen. I was calling Jeff to whine that I couldn't find it, when this couple in a big SUV pulled up. "Did you lose your car!? Don't worry, we'll help you. What's it look like?" I was so embarrassed I wanted to crawl under the stroller, but they were very insistant so I gave them a description. Ten minutes later, after I was sure they'd probably just given up and gone home, I saw them pull down the aisle I was still wandering in. They were laughing, "Does your license plate cover say "Hot Lips" on it? We found it!" They directed me to my stellar parking spot and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That was just at the mall. After looking through the fridge I decided we were having Papa Murphy's for dinner. As I was walking in the store with the baby carrier this man ran over and opened the door for me. I set Twistan on the bench to get in line, and he was mobbed by three people waiting for their pizzas. They tickled his feet and made faces til he was laughing. The lady in front of me said, "Oh! I believe you came in before I did!" and insisted that I go in front of her. When I left I had two pizzas, a liter of soda and the baby carrier. I could've gotten the door, but someone else ran over and got it for me. As I was walking to my car another lady ran over and grabbed my pizzas and helped me load them up. On the way home I realized I needed some key ingredients for mine and Brittany's cookie exchange, so I stopped at the store. On the way in, the bell ringer saw me carrying the carrier and ran inside and got me a cart. I asked a random stranger where the cheese was (it's conveniently across the store from the dairy section) and she was happy to tell me. The lines were soooo long to check out, but that didn't matter. Everyone enjoyed the time they had to chat in line with complete strangers, play with my baby, and wish each other a Merry Christmas. My bagger remembered me and asked me how things were going as he took my things to the car.

That is how it is here. All day, every day. I love it.