Ladies and Gentlemen....

We have a new obsession in the Hembree household and it is FOOTBALL.....Gone are the lightsabres and droid armies. It is football day and night here...."Mommy...Do you want me to show you a quarterback sneak?"...... "Mommy.....do you want me to show you how to throw the ball right and we can play catch?"....... "Mommy? Did you know I had a dream last night and I was doing this option play and then....blah blah blah" LOL.....I have to say I know as much about football as I do about Star Wars but it is much more enjoyable to watch. Ty had his first game and scored 2 touchdowns so I dont see this obsession slowing down anytime soon. He is so stinking fast....It makes me laugh to watch the other team try to catch him. I wish he would LOVE a sport that was played indoors or during a prettier time of year but I dont get to choose, do I? Jake is not as crazy about it as Ty is....He will sit and watch an entire game and give me a play by play as "we" watch. Jake is still into Star Wars, screaming when his brother aggravates him...and anything that has to do with candy...I would say that may be his obsession :) Anytime he walks by the Halloween candy he will ask to have some, which ends up being close to 30 times a day. He says he wants to try basketball so I will keep you all updated on that.....Night Night!

Boys!!

So I am on medicine for this weird hives...itching thing and it is making really crabby. Still dont know what the problem is.....So I pull Ty aside and say "Buddy..I am sorry mommy has been so crabby today." Ty: "Thats ok mommy....to be honest I havent even noticed!" LOL....Mommy to herself... Ugh... You are a boy why would I expect you to know if I am even speaking let alone if I am barking at you all day :) Just another day in my life... Ha ha! Do I even live in the same house as these boys? Oh wait ...someone does feed and pick up after them...I guess I do.

Proof

The shirt .............

The cake ...........and yes the helmet during the movie!

Pictures to prove my point......Yes my hint worked and I have a camera!!! Love you honey!

A note to Tyler and Jacob Hembree

Dear Ty and Jake,

I hate to ruin your fun, but I do not share your excitement or your obsession with all things Star Wars. I am a girl...I like the color pink, flowers, painted toenails, bubble baths and reading books in peace and quiet. When you start a sentence with "Do you remember when Darth Vader..." I have stopped listening and have gone to a happy place in my mind. When you ask "Who is Mace Windu?" I do NOT know the answer or care. When you want to play and ask me to be Princess Leia....it will not end well bc the princess likes to sleep in my story. Every cup and plate you use does not have to have Yoda on it...you will live with normal silverware and dinner plates. Lightsabers are not stuffed animals and do not need to sleep in your bed. They are just fine in the toybox and will be there when you wake up. Luke Skywalker is a made up person not a member of our family, so NO, I do not love him. I am excited your vocabulary is expanding but I dont believe you will find Clone Trooper or Rebel Alliance in the dictionary. Just a reminder my birthday is coming up and if my card has Boba Fett I am running away and may not come back all day. I love you both but enough is enough!

Love,
Mommy

P.S. I feel the same way about Phineas and Ferb so don't even think about it!

Hi there!

So we have been crazy busy and I am not good at keeping up at the moment. I have started homeschooling Ty(occasionaly Jake) and it is going really well....Of course he is only first grade so if I was struggling we would all be in trouble :) I think the thought of homeschooling was much scarier than actually doing it. He is doing great! Such a little smarty pants. The curriculum has alot of language and phonics type stuff and he is flying thru it considering he already reads at a 3rd grade level. But I want to go thru it all so when he comes to words he hasnt memorized he can actually sound them out. lol. We had our first homeschool field trip and the boys had a lot of fun...when I get a camera for my birthday(wink, wink) I will be able to add pictures. I dont know how to get the pictures from my i-phone to the computer without it taking forever so no pics till Oct. We went to the Butterfly festival in Southlake. The kids learned about butterflies and fed them some watermelon on a stick and Ty even had one on his nose by the end of the day. Then we went to Chick-Fil-A and had lunch and let the kids play while I visited with a couple of the other moms.
Texas is FINALLY feeling like home and I am comfortable with the group of girls I have met and am surrounding myself with. They are all so encouraging and sweet and I love being around girls I can be myself around. We also joined a church which helps in the feeling at home. Of course we loved Calvary in St Peters and it will never be exactly the same but we love our pastor, the music and they have alot of options for the kids. We have met a couple people up there that are great and I look forward to getting to know better. I am thankful that God has lead us to Glenview and I look forward to becoming more active with them and watching my children grow in the Lord in this church.
My family was all in town over Labor Day and it was WONDERFUL! I cant remember the last time all of us were all together like that and I havent laughed that much in a long time. I love each and every one so much. I could not be more blessed! The competitions were in full force and we kept the fighting to a minimum...Woo Hoo! I love how we are all so competitve and up for anything. The boys had so much fun with all their cousins and came back exhusted and of course sick from all the fun :)
Tyler starts soccer again this next week and is doing karate too, which he loves! So that, school and his birthday should keep me pretty busy this week but I am going to try and get better about my blogging.....I am such a slacker :) Much love to all who are reading and keep us in your prayers as October gets nearer and Jay has to leave us!

Homeschooling and we belong to a church!!!

Coming soon!! :)

Jake---You gotta love him!

Our morning went like this....Daddy: " Jake are you eating out of the trash?" Jake: "Umm...Yeah." 10 minutes later....Jake: "Hondo(our dog) is licking my booty!" Mommy: "Jake are you naked in the kitchen?" Jake: " Umm.....Yeah."
This is our child who is in a cast for a fractured foot with a black eye and mosquito bites all over his face and neck at the moment. He also wished Jay a Happy Mother's day this morning.
So my question is this: If he is this much trouble at 3 yrs old what are his teenage years going to be like and can we all start praying now for Heaven to help his poor mommy and daddy?

P.S. We had a great time in St Louis and I will try to get some pics up soon :)

Happy Father's Day !!

When it rains..... it pours right?

So it has been forever.....and not b/c I am sitting around here eating bon-bons all day...LOL.....I wish!! We had a great visit with Jen and the kids.....later Gigi (Great Grandma). I started watching a little baby for a friend of ours.....It may be short lived...he is super fussy and taking up my whole day catering to his screaming.....super cute but way way more work than I bargined for. Jay has some foot problems that will eventually need surgery. And now Jake has possibly fractured his foot. Have I cheered you up yet? LOL......Honestly I am tired but my spirits are up and I know I can do all things through Christ right? Right now I would love a job away from my job as mother, wife, housekeeper, babysitter, etc. :) I am looking forward to a visit to St Louis in a couple weeks and Ty coming home for the summer to keep Jake entertained. Oh yeah we went to Sea World recently too and had a great time but I am too busy feeling crabby to tell you a happy story right now....LOL! Just wanted to let you all know that I am alive and keeping my head above water and praying for a peaceful, uneventful day in the near future.......A girl can dream right???

We lost one!!

Ty lost his first tooth!! Woo hoo! Ok....It has been loose for over 2 months....his big boy tooth came in from behind and was pushing it out of the way....It has been practically falling out of his mouth for the last 2 weeks. Ty is usually pretty afraid of most new things. This was no exception. It took alot of patience on his mommy and daddy's parts to not yank it out about 30 days ago! :) But we let him do it in his own time and pull it himself so hopefully the rest of the baby teeth wont be so dramatic...LOL! He is so happy and is waiting patiently for the $20 his Papa promised him for pulling it himself. Ha ha! WOW!!! Papa is much nicer than the tooth fairy that only left him a $5. Btw...We put him down for bed at 8...still awake until around 930....Woke up at 1030... Came down the stairs and saw us sitting here....showed us the tooth fairy had come...Hmmm.....Didnt see her...She is pretty good! :)

Night Night Buddy.....I am proud of you! My baby is growing up!!!

Eggs, Kites and Bugs...Oh my?

We have been pretty busy..Here are some pics showing what we have been up to....Yes these are Jake's eggs before his mean mommy broke them all :)

Took the boys to the park and flew kites while Jay was having a drill weekend....Jake cried the second his went into the air...He hated it.....thought he was going to lose his kite....Good times! The bugs are a project Ty had for school....Jake thinks he has to do everything his brother does so he made the green one....He also insisted on bringing it in to Mrs. Riley.....she said he did a great job and if he was in Kindergarden he would have gotten a A from her.....2 years till he starts school.....Yikes he may be bored like his brother!!

Thursday April 8, 2010

Slowing down on the blog...sorry! We had a great Easter and weekend. Jake never once asked about his eggs or where they went. Praise Jesus for even the small victories :) I have had a couple ups and downs the last week as far as my mood goes. One day optimistic and the next feeling sorry for myself so it has been hard to keep up with my thanks on the blog. Today is a new day though and a good one at that....even the wind and cold is not going to ruin my mood..LOL! I had walking group today which always lifts my spirits. I LOVE being around other Christian wives and mothers it is so encouraging to know you are not alone, isn't it? Speaking of that....please pray for us and deciding if we are going to keep Ty in public school....My heart is just so uneasy about it and I could really use one of those special moments where you know God is giving you a direction to go and a peace in your heart. We are not having any major problems with him yet....I just want to keep his little heart innocent and keep him as safe and happy as I can. The world isnt the same as it once was and kids are growing up WAY too fast. Because we dont have family or a church family around, I want to make sure that we give both boys a strong foundation to go into this crazy world. Anyways enough about that. Jay has drill this weekend..Yuck! But what I am thankful for was last weekend we got to spend with him and we had alot of fun together. We tried a new church...it was alright. We went to the base for haircuts. We kinda wondered aroud town for awhile and saw a park and decided to stop and walk around a little. 3 miles later and we were all beat but good times and good memories. We only had to bribe them in the last 1/2 mile with ice cream to finish :)
Ok so besides the weekend....I am thankful for Jay......even though there are days here when I feel really alone and sad....He is there and I am so thankful that we are in this together and I am NOT alone! He is always quick to give me a break or whatever I need and I would be lost without him!!! He is such a hard worker. I will never have to worry about us needing anything b/c he would do whatever it takes to take care of us! (Even if that means taking an extra job, working longer hours, whatever) I love that about him! He is calm and caring when we need him to be but strong and determined on giving us the best life possible. God gave me the husband I wanted but didnt deserve.

Mother of the Year Moment

So I spent all day sleeping...taking a bubble bath.....getting a pedicure....shopping....basically being selfish :)

I decided my kids needed a little attention so we colored our Easter eggs. It went well,minus the mess, until the end. Jake wanted a wrap thing around an egg....well the egg was too big but I kept cramming it in there until it smashed in my hand. (Insert meltdown from Jake) Mommy broke his egg!! Tears.....crumpled in the chair....Ok ...bed time boys! Mommy:"Jake what do you want to have good dreams about? Jake:"My eggs but not the one you broke!" (Insert really sad and broken hearted face) Mommy:"Alright angel, sorry mommy did that...goodnight!" So I went down stairs to clean up the mess and put the eggs away. Well while I was doing this I was also messing with my phone ....so egg tray in one hand...Words with Friends in the other....You know what happened right? Egg tray smashed to the bottom of the fridge.....Mommy:"Oh please God don't let it be...." Yep it was every single one of Jake's eggs!!! Not one survived....Ugh!!!

Can't wait till he asks to see his eggs this morning :)

March 29, 2010

I'm back! A week of company and a weekend off :) We had a great time with Jack and Mary....They are such easy guests and fun to be around....We had lots of good food and good times.....It is so neat to see them with the boys. Ty and Jake miss them so much and I think Jake put a pretty good guilt trip on Mary to get her to move here so fingers crossed...LOL :)
This weekend was great! We got tons done around the house and had fun having Jay all to ourselves. The weather was perfect!! We also had lots of fun playing Super Mario on the Wii...Actually it is pretty hard so Jay and I had more fun than Ty.....We got to be sneaky parents and play once the kids went to bed. I have absolutly nothing to complain about! The weather has alot to do with my sunny mood...Isnt it sad had a little sun can totally change your mood? Oh yeah and my baby was born this week!!! Woo Hoo! LOL....Ok not my baby, but the baby I am going to watch this summer and he is adorable!! I look forward to having a tiny little guy around again...My boys are getting so big, so fast!! Stay tuned for pictures of the little guy....He will be coming around May 10th if his mommy can part from his sweet little face. So to sum it up I am thankful for the following: Family, Weather, Jay had the weekend off, and Baby Joe! :)

March 19, 2010

I am thankful this week is coming to a close :) I had a great week but I am wiped out!!!
We went for a walking with my walking group girls....I thank God for them. The 2 that went today with me are super sweet girls who I hope to continue to spend time with. Good Christian moms who I can talk to and learn alot from. Their kids are darling also and I love being around kids who I see are being raised like I want to raise my boys.
Anyways I am also thankful the Aggies are playing and the boys are watching movies so I can relax! We have family coming in tomorrow so I will be rushing around to clean and stock the house and undo the damage 3 kids and a mom on the go have made all week! The boys are very excited to see them (Jay and I too)!
Till next week! :)

March 17, 2010

I am a little late but yesterday was the best day!!!

It was just me and the little guys and we went to the Ft Worth Museum and had a blast. It was super packed with everyone being out for Spring Break but the boys had a good time....I will say it again....It is so nice to have Ty home! We played for about 4 hours.....went to Dairy Queen and I bought them Light Sabres from Star Wars(Their new fave. thing..they live and breathe Star Wars right now)

They are at the age now where I am seeing less little boys and more big boy stuff. Dont want to change in front of me, dont want my help for showers, less cartoons, more friends and playing outside. Everything is bad guys vs. good guys LOL! Part of this makes me sad but it is also more fun than I thought it would be. Last night when I put them to bed they wanted to have good dreams about the fun we had together. It is nice to know that even though they dont want me around, as much, they still like hanging with mom sometimes :) Only thing missing from our day was Jay!

My fave. pictures of the day...The boys sitting in a dino footprint and searching for dino bones.

March 16, 2010

Yummy homemade potato soup on a cold rainy day! Need I say more? :)

My kids sitting at the table eating and playing...enjoying each others company. I love how close they have become since we moved here....They are best friends and play so well together.

Thinking about this makes me think about Jenny.....She is and always has been my best friend! How lucky I am that we have always been close!! She knows me better than anyone and I am blessed to have her. She is so kind and patient and caring. You could not ask for anything more :) I love everything about her. She is also super protective of those she loves and isnt afraid to speak her mind when she feels like they are being treated unfairly. Seeing her aggravated at someone makes me smile....I know it shouldn't but she is just so darn cute! She is a great daughter, sister, wife and mother....I wouldn't mind being her one day when I grow up :)

Tomorrow it is just me and the boys. I can't wait to spend the day with them again. I love having Ty back with us for awhile!

March 15, 2010

I am taking the weekends off! LOL!

The boys and I had a great weekend.....We went to the base and walked around and played outside, church, etc.! Good weekend!

Today I am thankful for these smiles! I got to take the kids to a bouncy house, McDonalds and the park. I kept them busy all day and wore them and myself out : )

I am also thankful that Jay is resting as he is not feeling well and I still have enough energy to keep going with the boys until bedtime!

March 12, 2010

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." Lamentations 3:22-23

God keeps bringing this verse to my mind and I keep finding it written in random places. Today it was in a blog I read. It is called Moms in Need of Mercy. She wrote about how God's love and mercy can be found everyday if we are willing to look for it. Kind of a jolt of joy to carry you through the rest of the day when the sunshine fades and the clouds start to roll in.
Today was not a great day for me. I was thinking what can I find to be thankful about today? I started this mission and day 3 and all I can think to say is "Yeah guys I got nothing!" :)
I have kind of felt like an outsider everwhere I went the last 2 days and have been fighting feelings of lonliness....but when Ty got home he reminded me "Tonight is movie and pizza night right?"
God has been faithful and given me the husband and children of my dreams...There is nothing better than spending the night with them and forgetting the rest of the world! And God's mercies are new every morning. I can forget how I feel today and start new tomorrow and focus on my "boys" and on the great things God has in store for the 4 of us!

Thursday March 11

Ok here goes :)

I am thankful for:

1. An unexpected chat with a girlfriend......I am so thankful God brought Craig and Amy into our lives and I am so greatful that she is so easy to talk to and had some "words from God" that my heart needed to hear and it was a true joy to spend some time with her. I had a list of what seemed like 100 things to do and instead spent most of the morning reconnnecting with her and it was just what I needed!

2. I am so blessed that I am able to stay at home with my boys!!! It seems like all I do is talk to children all day, but it is a BLESSING and not all mom's get that chance!! I was able to go up to Tyler's school today and see him playing at recess and Jake got to play too. Tonight we have an open house and we get to see all the cool stuff he has been learning and making for us.

3. One more future thing to be thankful for......Jay and I have a "date night" tonight to watch the Office :) LOL......I know.....sometimes it is the little things but I am really looking forward to it just being him and I and a TV show we BOTH actually enjoy! :)

Thanks Michelle and Amber for the encouragement.....Keep Me Accountable!!
Amber....I have nagged you enough about your blog so I am sure I deserve a little nagging back ....P.S. I am praying for you!

My thoughts

Ok..... I dont know if anyone even reads this anymore :) It has been so long since I have updated!!!
Texas has been hard for me....I've been mad, upset, unhappy and most of all I feel like I have lost a year and a half of my life feeling sorry for myself! Today I want to take my life back and let go of what I think I need and begin following the path the God has put us on. My boys are happy.....love school and life in general...My husband is content with his job and he is finally getting the appreciation he deserves! It is time for me to remember what it is like to be joyfully following the Lord. No one can make me happy unless I choose to be happy....I have told Jay many times..."Choose Joy!" It is time I follow my own advice...LOL!
So if anyone is still reading this...Keep me accountable :)
What I would like to start doing is using this blog to record the things that I am thankful for.....I am out a camera right now...Long story...But I will try to add a picture of the ones I love every now and then.

Today I am thankful for:

Jake: I was walking by him as he was watching a cartoon before his nap...I dont know why but I stopped and walked over and gave him a hug. I assumed he would push me out of the way...LOL but he said "I am so glad I am here with you Mommy!" One of those moments where you realize what you are doing is worth everything and it brought a tear to my eye.

Ty: He woke up early so I got some snuggle time in before he went to school!

Jay: I actually was up early enough to talk to him and spend some time with him before work....He has been so busy lately and I have been sick so I have hardly got to see him. He gave me the night off last night and let me get some sleep. I am thankful that he noticed what I was needing and went out of his way to make sure I was taken care of.

WOW

Has it really been since Nov? It seems like the last few months have flown by and I have forgotten all about this blog......Well Thanksgiving in St Louis was hectic but great and Christmas and visits from family made Christmas a blast as well. Ty has started basketball. He scored in his very first game..WOO HOO! I still think he prefers soccer but he is really learning alot and toughening up...which he needs....He really enjoys daddy being his coach and Jay is doing a great job with alot of kids who started the yr with no clue how to play basketball. Jake is doing great...Learning his letters and how to write them....I am so proud he has taken an interest in this....I expected alot more fuss about learning from him but he is loving it! He has been great hanging out here with me and helping out in Ty's class. He is like one of the students up there and all the kids in Ty's class treat him like he is their own brother...trying to carry him, etc :) It finally seems to be settling down around here so I hope to blog more. Jake is sick right now and miserable, which makes me miserable...That combined with no sleep for all of us is making for a crabby house but I hope he is on the end of this virus or whatever he has got. I will add a couple pictures from the last couple months to catch you up :)