Mother's Day

What's a parent to do?

Tyson rides a bike!

At 5 years old (three months before he turns 6), Tyson can now ride a bike, beating his two older brothers. Granted, I'm not sure if the older boys would've picked it up earlier because I never pushed them to try as I did for Tyson.

It all began when we saw one of Tyson's soccer teammate, who's only 4 years old, rolling up to practice in the world's smallest bike (actually the same 12" size as Tyson's) and I thought, if he can do it so can Ty.

Random weekend pics

Elliot, all up in your grill.

Easter Sunday

Elliot's posing/"cheese" smile is so nasty... but I love it.

F*ck being sick!

It's now April and we're still sick... it's been on and off since February! There were a few days in between where we were all "healthy", like during Spring Break (thank goodness), but there has been at least one person sick. A couple weeks ago it was me with flu-like symptoms and I was out of commission for a week. Then last weekend it was Andrew with a stomach bug (barf & poop) and it spread like wildfire. Now Jacob, Tyson, Elliot, and I have the same stomach bug. As I'm writing this, Lynn is at home with three sick kids (only Andrew went to school) and I'm "working from home" but I can barely focus. I'm just trying not to shit myself.

Sad doggy Elliot

Jacob is joining the band

Next year Jacob is starting junior high (oh, how time flies) and as he preps for the new school, he needed to select an elective. Out of the limited choices, he chose to do band. But which instrument will he play? So last weekend, we visited the school so that Jacob could meet with the music director and make that decision.

Road trip (Glen Rose & Dallas, TX)

The kids were on Spring Break last week and out of all the options that were presented to them (only places in Texas), they decided on Dinosaur Valley State Park. It's a good 4.5 hour drive nonstop which meant it was time for a road trip! There was no way we're driving there and back so we spent a couple nights in the closest city, Dallas. And the kids got to experience what it's like to go on trips with us... eat like crazy.

My love-hate relationship with BJJ

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) is a martial art, combat sport system that focuses on grappling and especially ground fighting. BJJ promotes the concept that a smaller, weaker person can successfully defend against a bigger, stronger, heavier assailant by using proper technique, leverage, and most notably, taking the fight to the ground, and then applying joint-locks and chokeholds to defeat the opponent. (source: Wikipedia)

Crawfish season

Month of sickness

For almost the entire month of February, there has been at least one person sick in the family. First it was Jacob with pneumonia that lasted forever. Then baby Elliot with her fever, runny nose and snot eating. Then Lynn with her cough and raspy voice (which I'm actually diggin'). Now Tyson has a crazy high fever that's lasting for days (like Jacob) but add in barf. Lots of it. Barf on carpet is the worst.  He too got an X-ray to see if it's pneumonia (results pending).

Birthday and baptism

Last weekend we celebrated Venus' 40th birthday. The big four-oh. When I hear 40, I immediately think that's old. Then I quickly realize that I'm not too far behind. In fact, I still don't feel like an "adult". That title belongs to my parents, aunts and uncles. I will forever be a "kid" although my body is telling me otherwise.

Jacob's not-so-happy birthday

One week before Jacob's birthday, he got sick. He was tired with a fever and no other symptoms. No big deal, or so we thought. Then comes his birthday is he's still running a fever with a nasty cough. So we finally take him in to see the doctor, who wanted an X-ray, which then confirmed that he had pneumonia. Yikes. He was out of school for an entire week. Classmates made him birthday/get well cards, which was really thoughtful. He finally semi-recovered by Sunday and I took him, his brothers and cousins to Monster Jam for his birthday. What a week.

Super Bowl wedding

Another weekend, another wedding. Who gets married during Super Bowl weekend? My friend Johnny, that's who. I've known him since we began pharmacy school together... nearly 17 years ago! And I had the honor of being one of his groomsmen. The wedding festivities were all in Galveston, St. Mary's Cathedral Basilica (ceremony) and Hotel Galvez (reception), which was a good thing considering Houston was crazy congested with the Super Bowl in town.