seven.

Well....for most of you, this may be a recap. I was looking at the ol' blog and saw that it had been MARCH since I last updated....HOLY COW! (I AM really bad at this.....) ;)

Since our last recap, we have added a new Lamson. Joy Magnolia was born at home, on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at 8:03pm. She was one of the big ones....8 and a half pounder. We had a water birth and it was EVERYTHING I dreamed it would be. <3

School has started and Jack is now a proud member of Katy ISD. Being that we moved last year and decided not to pay extra a school year to keep Juliana at Golbow Elementary, she and Jack had the "pleasure" of starting a new school. IIIIIII, on the other hand, am not so thrilled or impressed with the new school. But I know my kids will blow them out of the water, academically. 

Jacie is....well, Jacie. She is the big sister around here now. She thinks she runs the place while Juliana and Jack are at school. Oh boy....she is going to be a tough one to curb. ;)

Jonah is walking and has been since May. He is just in to EVERYTHING now. And I am SO glad! 

Jeremiah has been busy. With two jobs. God really blessed us the past couple months. He is considered a "scientist" at his new job, Arcadis/Malcom Pirne. He tests soil samples and does other things with big, fancy, scientific descriptions. And he LOVES it! He was also offered a paid position with West I-10 FD - which is a huge help and allows him to do what he loves!

I....well, I am just trying to take it a day at a time. There are struggles and joys through out my day and even though I may wish for another life for one split second, I wouldn't trade my chaotic life for anything in the world! 

<3

my {security} "blankie".

Things I am LOVING today are:

*Grape kool-aid. I made some today for the kiddos at lunch time and I think I am on my third glass now. Bringin' it back old school. 

*Pandora. I was listening to the Laura Story station - after a very stressful morning and I was COMPLETELY uplifted with praise and worship. 

This song is one that I have been leaning on all week. The video is kind of cheesy but just close your eyes and meditate on the song...

Blessings - Laura Story

And FINALLY....

*Jeremiah. Today has been one that I don't want to repeat tomorrow. It was full of stress, sobbing, boredom. Jeremiah has been traveling to Austin four days a week for work so I have been a "single mom" in the sense that it's just me for 4 days. This week, I have had to deal with somethings that have been, somewhat, an inconvenience. I have had to deal with the electric company, water company, phone company - with children in tow, a possible car inspection and temporary plate trip, painting a bathroom, etc, etc. This afternoon, in the middle of painting the kids' bathroom, our power sporadically  went out. This was the push over the cliff. Tears began to rush down my face, breathing increased, a feeling of overwhelming stress came over me. 

I called Jeremiah. No answer. I texted him - three times to be exact. He called me back right away but I was sobbing so hard I couldn't pick up the phone. So he called again. (I could hear exactly what he was saying as the phone rang on his end.."Why isn't she answering?" "She never has her phone on her." "I  hope the house isn't on fire....")

But....surprisingly, he was calm and soothing. Like a security blanket of a two year old toddler. He is my "blankie". Not only did he call me in the middle of his hands on job (I think he was turning off water to the toilet?) but he calmed me down almost instantly.  He asked questions like, "What did you have for breakfast? lunch?", "What color blue are you painting the bathroom? Can you compare it to something I am familiar with?"

I was calm and collected.  He reassured me that everything was okay. He was patient with me through all of my sobs. He was concerned. He was loving. He was my security blankie wrapped around me during a thunderstorm. 

All the way from Austin. <3

hiatus is {over}.

I'm back!

It's been a long and winding road since I have last logged on here. I am hoping that as part of my own personal "therapy", I can get my blog back up and running. 

Of course, I will fill you in on the wonders that are my children but I will be going at this blog thing with a different approach. Each day, Monday through Friday, will have themes to which I will follow: Menu Monday, Tackle It Tuesday, Wedded Bliss Wednesday, Toddler Trials Thursday and Faith Friday.

We will see how it goes! 

So folks, I welcome you to: Tackle It Tuesday!

I found this idea from a web blog that I came across today.... www.5minutesformom.com. I was in DIRE need of some motivation after the morning I had and I couldn't have been more happy to cross paths with this internet gold mine. 

SO: As part of "Tackle It Tuesday" - my project for this week is all things kids' bathroom. 

When we moved into our house, if definitely needed a heaping dose of TLC. The walls were all drab white, kitchen cabinets half stained, flower beds....were not too flower like.....you can say that this house needed a little love. :)

So, since September, we have taken on one room at a time, one wall color at a time, one fixture at a time.  And I would say that the kids bathroom is up to bat. 

We decided that we wanted this bathroom to be fun and silly....just like our kiddos. SO, we decided to go with this Alex Moody Monsters theme:

Don't these adorable little monsters look just like MY adorable little monsters?!?! 

This evening, I began taping the edges and floorboards of the bathroom and will hopefully start painting tomorrow at nap time. (Keep your fingers crossed for me.)

(Updates to come next Tuesday!)

Uncle Ben is staying for a while....

No, we don't have an actual "Uncle Ben"..... BUT we have saved some "Uncle Ben's" during my shopping trips this week. Like, MAJORLY saved.

I'm not sure how to describe it other than a "coupon hoarding, club card loading, double/tripling coupon, save, save, saving" game. It has completely consumed my shopping experience. 

It take MUCH preparation - and by that I mean less sleep (I was up until 4am only to get up at 6am to go shopping before Jer went to work.) and more clipping and research. (My google search bar is my best friend....)

SO: Here is how I saved with this trip.

Regular price: $48.00

(9) boxes of GM cereal

(4) boxes of Betty Crocker Fruit Snack

(3) Nature Valley Granola Bars

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Randall's was having a 'Buy 4 boxes of GM cereal, Get $4 off instantly AND one free box of Nature Valley Granola Bars.')

Here's what I spent.

Honey Nut Cheerios - $1.99 ($.75 off coupon)

(2) Cinnamon Toast Crunch - $1.99 ea. - ($.60 off coupon and $.55 off coupon. In ADDITION to a $1 off 2 boxes of GM cereal.)

Cocoa Puffs and Trix Cereals - $1.99 ($1 off 2 boxes of GM cereal)

I had an in-store coupon from a previous shopping trip for $2 off of any 5 boxes of GM cereal.

With the purchase of (4) cereals I got (1) box of Nature Valley Granola Bars for FREE. On my shopping card, I uploaded a $.50 e-coupon which was taken off of my free granola bars and Randall's also honored my $.50 off coupon and even doubled it. (SO - I got $1.50 off of my purchase....)

Bringing my total to:  $2.24

Kroger is running a "Buy 10, get $5 off" special on select items. Here is what I snagged:

(4) Tombstone pizzas - $2.49 ea. (I had (4) $2 off coupons which made them $.49 each)

(1) pack of hot dogs - $.89 each

(13) Kraft Easy Macs - $.50 each

(2) Miracle Whip Squeeze Bottles - $1.67 ea. (I had (2) $1 off coupons, which made them $.67 each)

(10) Suave Deodorants - $1 each. ( I had (10) $.50 off coupons - Kroger doubles up to $.50 coupons, which meant I got all 10 for FREE.)

Bringing my total to: $10.71

(Probably would have been cheaper if my children didn't LOVE mac n' cheese so much....) :)

    

  

pierced.

Here at the Lamson house, we have put into place a "Chore Chart" and each day; Juliana, Jack and Jacie have certain chores they are responsible for. ( I LOVE this system for the sheer fact that it is a lighter work load for mommy!)

Juliana came to Jer and I at the beginning of the week and asked if she could get her ears pierced. So....we responded, "SURE!" But you must earn it....

As you can see, she did a great job this week!

This is before she got pierced.

 

Marking the exact spots for her earrings.

Just a little pinch....

VIOLA!! Finished product....and she didn't even flinch...ONCE!

I look at the picture above and all I see is that sweet, little 6 month old baby face. How on earth did she grow up SO fast?!?! And what was I doing??? 

<3

freedom.

 Yesterday marked our sixth 4th of July as a clan. We were able to spend it with some great friends and some great food...... (mmmmm.....burgers.)

So- here are some quick highlights:

Jack has a jumping good time on the trampoline....we probably should change his name to "Jumpin' Jack Flash". He is my hamball. From the moment I stepped outside with my camera aimed for shooting, Jack would pose in a different way each jump....and each pose even more exaggerated than the last. This one is my favorite....

Jonah had a great first fourth of July. However, not quite sure he was too interested in anything but food, multiple stinky diapers for mom and having in-depth conversations with daddy.

If pictures are worth a million words...than I should be a millionaire. I am still trying to wrap my head around why Juliana was so scared of this sparkler - I know she had experience with them in the past. I would like to believe that it is because Jeremiah is a firefighter and the kiddos we WELL educated on fire safety. This is still priceless. :)

My Jacie girl. Adventurous little Jacie. I lost count how many times she tried to poke her brother (and mom) with this lit sparkler but she had a BLAST. ;)

freedom. 

I take for granted EVERY minute of every day how lucky we are to have freedom. Not only in our country but with our heavenly Father. Thank you Jesus for giving me freedom. 

P.S. - On a side note, Jeremiah had a MAJOR fire that his station responded to. Here is the  video news story.

rain, rain {come and stay.}

I do realize that from last post to this post, we have dealt with two COMPLETELY extreme weather conditions... and for that I apologize Poppy. :)

Katy had some crazy storms this past week. Hurricane Alex rolled through Mexico/Southern Texas and we got hit with the thunder and downpour of it all. (Which was a FANTASTIC thing!)

Yesterday afternoon, Juliana and I left home on a mission: All things rain boots. 

Here is what we found: 

We had a blast playing in the rain before dinner. And there were puddles, streams, raindrops GALORE.

Jeremiah had the camera while I joined in on the fun!

Needless to say, dinner was quiet and bedtime was easy. ;)

....and snow it did.

After lunch time, the itty bitty snow flakes turned into big, fat, fluffy snowflakes.

I rushed around the house trying to gather warm layers for the kids..... I had this huge fear that the snow would stop in the blink of an eye and the kiddos would miss out.

As you can see, I was a little under prepared....no gloves. We just weren't expecting this kind of weather - you better believe I will be going out today to grab some mittens!

The minute Jacie stepped of the front step - she was having a blast with her hands reaching for the sky the whole time!

Jack, on the other hand, wasn't too keen about being cold.

Jacie was ALL over the place - even the neighbor's front yard.

Here is the front of our house. The roof is covered - the yard still green from our shady oak trees.

Within two hours everything was melted. It was a nice reminder of home. :)

let it snow.

Texas had it's first snowfall today. Started this morning when Jer was getting ready for work. At that point, you could tell it was snow if you stood outside and squinted your eyes really tight and even then, the only reason you knew it was snowing is because you could feel it on your face.

A little after breakfast, Jacie was sitting in her highchair and all I heard was, "UH-OH!" I am thinking, "great, another mess for me to clean up..." but as I walk into the kitchen, she is pointing out the back door at the snow.

(You can barely see it, so I circled it. And you can still hardly see it...)

Jack wanted a closer look, so he opened the door.

Right now, as I am blogging this, the snow is coming down steadily, to the point that it is big, fat snowflakes and trying to stick.

Current temp:40.8 degrees

Juliana's school called to let us know that because of "deteriorating conditions", school will be dismissed at 1:40pm.

Fun fact: My 'gmail' email account is set up so that the background of my inbox is the current weather condition. Right now, there is snow....something I haven't seen since we last lived in Cleveland.

Happy half snow day!!!

Thankful.

First:

I am thankful for: Jesus. a healthy family. motherhood. parents that love us. grams and poppy. a source of income when others are struggling. a roof over our heads. food in our bellies. clothes on our backs. Lucy. FCR. dvr. sunshine. leaves changing colors - YES, here in Texas!strong coffee in the morning. Juliana's growing mind. Jack being potty trained. Jacie's childlike spirit. Jonah's sweet, sweet smiles. Jeremiah's unconditional love. PHOTOGRAPHY. friends. a baby that sleeps through the night. coats. a warm bed. running water. a loving home.

just a few things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.

Now onto other business..... I now present the many faces of Juliana, Jack, Jacie and Jonah:

These are the things that make me smile. :)

down on the farm.

I love pumpkins. So much that I enjoy taking the family to the farm to look at them.

One of my favorite things about fall time is big, bright, orange pumpkins. Last year we learned our lesson. Instead of Dewberry Farm (which is comparable to Mapleside Farms - to all of you Ohio-ans out there) we went to some puny, muddy, small pumpkin patch...and we can see why it was FREE to get in.

However, this year, we splurged on admission and it was SO worth it.

Jacie on the hayride:

Jeremiah and Jonah. I just LOVE this.

There was ALL kinds of things for the kids to do! Corn maze, hayride, playground, rubber duck races, entertainment, pumpkin patch, some kind of barrel swing and hanging ropes so your kids could jump into huge mounds of hay! (Every parents worst nightmare!! ) :)

Definitely worth doing next year!!

Czapski Zebras.

About two weeks ago, Juliana had her first ever Field Day. :) They were the green team - the Czapski Zebras!

Jeremiah so graciously came home in the middle of his work day so that I could go up to the school and get pictures of this momentous occasion. :)

Water break:

500 yard dash...or something of that nature:

Cheering her friends on:

This is just the beginning. Pretty soon it will be soccer games. Then play practice. Then professional football.

(Lets hope not that extreme.)

Saving the moolah.

I am SO excited about this learning gem!

This year, Jeremiah and I wanted to get Juliana something "useful" and not something that would end up in pieces in every corner of her room. Being that she started school and is SO excited about learning, we researched learning tools and found our winner.

The Leapfrog Didj Gaming System.

Well, today I did some homework and we found out that we will be saving BIG. No, HUGE. No....GINORMOUS.

This gaming system is originally $89.99. Leapfrog.com is having a $30 off sale which brings it down to $59.99. That's all fine and dandy but I can do better... I found a leapfrog coupons link which will give me FREE SHIPPING (an $8.95 savings) AND 20% off (a $12 savings!)

Which brings my grand total to $51.49....tax included.

I LOVE saving $47.45. :)

Inferno.

For the past couple months, Jeremiah has been pursuing his dream. He has been attending meetings and various training with the West I-10 Volunteer Fire department. I love this. He is beaming with pride every time he comes home. He has made a few buddies and has even gone on a call or two -(cough, cough) fire at Starbucks....don't worry, no one was harmed. :)

Jeremiah will be completing his training by the 2nd week of December and will be able to become a "real" firefighter (and by this, I mean HANDS ON, not observing.) Jeremiah will be receiving his radio and from there, the fun begins!

As for now, Jeremiah is still working at our church and with the Cordes'. He will be eligible to apply for day shift (paid position) in 6 months to a year. (YAY!!)

This pic just melts my heart. True definition of "hero". Juliana's eyes lit up when she saw her daddy in full gear. She is SO proud to say that her daddy drives a fire truck. :)

She had a blast trying on Jer's uniform.

Jack is obsessed with Jer's helmet...

Kids....they are SO curious about everything...

Okay, okay...I had a little fun getting to play honorary firefighter for a couple minutes... :)

Love.....

Four years ago, today, I changed my life - until the day I will go be with Jesus. Juliana's life changed. My role in society and my social life had changed. From that day forward I would become a wife. We would add on to our family. We would change residency FIVE times. Jeremiah would start his fire department journey (a post on that subject - soon to come...) It had been a crazy ride and I wouldn't change ANY minute of it!

So, here is to another four years, and four after that, and four after that, and four after that......(you get the picture.)

Fall In Texas.

Autumn. I LOVE autumn.

I miss Cleveland this time of year. I miss the colors....by this part of the year, one seems to get sick of green really quickly.

We got a glimpse of fall in our back yard this past week. As I was having some one on one time with little Jonah, I happened to look up at our big arch window in the family room and saw one, two...no three little red leaves! :)

Here is our very GREEN key lime tree. (Well, the limes are looking a little yellow at this point. They are probably WAY confused by the weather - it has been averaging 50's at night and upper 70's during the day....today was 78 degrees.....

Oh my sweet, not so little pumpkin....we decided to have a little fun in the front yard with just one adventurous little girl, two pumpkins and mommy's camera.

Oh well, we may not have a big autumn but at least we have BIG pumpkins! :)

Photo Shoot.

This morning as Jonah and I were relaxing on the couch, I noticed he was especially "smiley". I got a few shots with my phone and then I ran for my camera. If I am going to captures these heart warming grins, might as well do it right!

By the time I got everything ready for my Jonah "photo shoot" he was way over being that super smiley little bug. Now he was just ho-hum.

I still got some good shots out of it! :)

bored:

curious:

naked:

:)

Forgive Me.

Here are quite a few posts for your reading enjoyment.

I know I said I would be consistent with this blog...but who knew that a school ager, two toddlers and a newborn would keep you so busy! :)

Six.

Happy birthday my sweet, sweet girl.

Juliana has a fun filled sixth birthday. On Friday night, we celebrated with Grammy and Tom. On Saturday, we went to a friend's birthday party at a gymnasium....lots and lots of fun to be had! On Sunday, Juliana and daddy when to dinner and then to a movie - "Where the Wild Things Are." (She was absolutely glowing when she got home.) And on Wednesday, Juliana and mommy went to get haircuts and dinner.

Here is my special girl with her very boring birthday cake. (It's what she wanted. ) :)

Juliana with a few presents from mommy and daddy.

again.

Scott washing her hair - very relaxing experience.

cut.

blow dry.

itchy face.

beautiful. <3