Thank You!

This is sending out a very special thank you to my brother David who helped me fix so many things while we was here at out house! He cleaned up my computer and now it is super fast, he told me what was wrong with our car sound system, he fixed a major electrical issue in our house and he replaced my kitchen faucet with a new one. WOW!!! So nice to have such a talented and helpful brother!Thanks!!! love you.

The Mouritsen Family Holiday!

Ok, ok. I know I have missed a few holidays here on the blog, but I figured instead of trying to backtrack, I will just pick up right here at Christmas and tell you what we did! We had a FABULOUS time with my whole family, first at Disney World, then here at our house for Christmas. It really doesn't seem fair that we got to have all that fun in one week...

We had so much fun at Disney World!!!!!! I think we hit it just right, there were hardly any lines at all and the weather was perfect! Gotta love those Florida winters! The kids had so much fun with their cousins Anders and Hyrum. They don't get to see each other very often, so it was a treat to be with them for so long.

Here are my favorite highlights from our Holiday (in no particular order):

1. Stopping in Covington, Louisiana (where I went to high school, and hadn't been back in 12 years) and looking around in the Walmart for people I knew.

2. Grandma and Papa accidentally brushing their teeth with DESITIN, still laughing about that one. yucky!

3. Christmas caroling to the guy at the desk in the hotel lobby, (Grandma's plan of course). David and I got a good laugh about his response to us.

4. Uncle David trying to fix the car radio system and finding treasure in the tape deck... 43 coins to be exact. Almost 4 dollars in change, it pretty much sounded like a piggy bank.

5. Seeing Grandma and Grandpa Phillips and how much they loved seeing all of us. They just ate up their great-grand kids. What a treat for us to be able to visit them!

6. Eating sweet tangerines from Grandpa Phillips mini-orchard, and "sneaking" some across the border.

7. Watching Tyler, and Brooklyn and Lily get special privileges to toot the horn on the Disney World train, and having the conductor say we were holding up the train.

8. Hearing Ander's jokes! He's such a funny little guy.

9. Having Grandpa Phillips give away 5 of his most loved fishing poles to his great-grandchildren and their dads. Hopefully we can carry on his love for fishing.

10. Not having to take any pictures on this trip because Papa is the official family photographer, THANKS DAD!!!


Well, aside from all the fun we had together, Christmas was special. We started it off by going caroling to a few of my special friends, including the house around the corner with so many lights outside they need a generator. No, we don't know them, but hey, in the spirit of Christmas, I'd say they were pretty good candidates. Then we spent the next whole day shopping for food because we'd been gone the whole week before. We had a fun little Nativity program, opened our traditional "night before Christmas jammies" and went to bed... a few hours later. Christmas was a whirlwind of excitement and fun. Thanks for coming to our house Grandma and Papa, and aunt Lauren and uncle David. We love you all sOooOOo much!

MVP

T-Ball season is coming to a close this weekend. It has actually been REALLY fun! I have enjoyed the games, and lately the weather has been perfect, making a good excuse to spend time outside. We will definitely try T-ball or baseball again.

Tyler has learned a lot, most importantly, just to have fun. I loved his coaches style, they complimented him whenever they could, which was a huge boost to his confidence. I could use a lesson from that, praise the good whenever I see it, (and then some, I don't think kids can get too much praise...) and look the other way when it's not so good. Those are some of my favorite shots! courtesy of Papa :)

Fun at the Arboretum

Lily is making Grandma's hair "Very Beautiful!"


That's 3 generations of girls right there, too bad Grandma Phillips isn't in the picture to make it 4. WOW!

Grandma and Papa came to visit this weekend and we had so much fun!!! We took them to the Arboretum. The Arboretum is especially fun to do in the fall, because all of the volunteers make a themed scarecrow.

I was a little bit worried as we entered the parking lot and every space was full. I had never seen it that crowded!!! Looked like a big wedding or something... worse, it was Homecoming. It looked like every couple that went to Humble High School was there taking pictures. I didn't know pictures before Homecoming was such a big deal. When I was in high school, we pretty much covered that in our front yard, then got a package of pictures at the dance. Things have changed I guess. If we're talking about things that have changed, those girls were wearing dresses that looked like they came off Hollywood stars. They looked like they were custom made! Maybe it was just that I went to high school in a much smaller town? Who knows.

Anyway, we had fun walking around the trails and playing in the fountains. Thanks for taking all the fun shots Dad!!!

Carnivals and Candy, and candy, and candy...

(Notice the purple hair, this is the same purple hair gel I experimented with the week I was having a mid-life crisis...)
Tyler and his best buddy Heath, funny thing is, this doesn't look too unusual, they're always playing dress up with pirate stuff.


Two little witches, aren't they cute?



The Texas cousins!




So, as if trick-or-treating wasn't enough candy to ruin my kids appetites for the next 2 weeks... now we are adding trunk-or-treat to the mix too!

Don't get me wrong, I love all of the fun, especially getting to see everyone in costume, but I'm just not a fan of all the candy. Candy is not really my thing. I'd rather have a decadent dessert than a piece of candy bar, but as soon as that bag of Halloween candy is opened... I'm all over. And all of my hard work at the gym is out the door. I think instead of buying candy I actually want to eat, I should buy the nasty fruiti-tuitti kind I don't like.

Anyway, so aside from all of the candy, we had a fabulous time at the carnival! Lots of carnival games, plenty of candy, trinket toys, good friends, fun face-paints, cousins... what else could you possibly ask for?

These are a few of my favorite things...

Ok, It's been a little while since I've indulged myself in a little extra computer time... getting the house ready to list has kept all of us extremely busy. Tyler has been playing outside a lot, Lily has been enjoying chocolate like any girl would, and Brooklyn has have 2 visits from the toothfairy since I last wrote. But lately, I have just been enjoying life and here's why:

1. Good Family- Having Jeff's mom and sister, Katie, come for the weekend was such a special treat, I love them soooo much! They are so fun to be around and I never laugh more that when we're all together. That makes me happy!
Along the same lines, my brother just had a birthday and we got to have a 3 way conversation with my parents and him. I love my family, they are always such good examples to me, even my little brother amazes me, and they just announced to us that they are expecting their third... so excited for them!!! (maybe a girl, or 3 boys...both would be fun!)

2. Fabulous Fall Weather- In Seattle, I got excited when it was sunny,beautiful, clear and you could see the mountains and the city. In Houston, I get excited when I can finally put the shorts away. This weather just puts a big smile on my face. Nothing is better than a brisk, windy sunny fall day! The weather brings us outside when it's perfect, and the past few days I have seen so many exquisite monarch butterflies. Seeing a butterfly with such gorgeous colors, and no inhibition as it flutters around makes me smile. (Especially when the kids see it.) I love it, love it, love it!

3. Cooking for the season- I get so excited to make the fall treats, which now the weather warrants! I love the pumpkin desserts (I don't think there is a better combination than pumpkin and cream cheese), the soft ginger snaps that are to die for, the Halloween decorated sugar cookies, and hot chocolate. (This list could go on forever!)

Brooklyn will not remember me giving her that special fruit roll-up thing that she begged for in the store, in her lunch box, but she might remember making cookies and rolling them in sugar---then watching them through the oven door until we took them out, then eating them together while they're still warm and falling apart in our hands. These are the things memories are made of!

4. Good music- I love beautiful music! Probably the reason I play two instruments and love to listen to almost any kind of music. We got to go to a Houston Symphony performance this past weekend and I had forgotten what that does to me. I just connect with music. I appreciate it on all levels. I see the musicians who have practiced countless hours for this. The conductor who is full of passion as he crazily waves his stick around. And I close my eyes and absorb the beauty of it all.

5. Good things-Ok, so this is a conglomeration of a few things... Since we got a new gym membership I have been apprehensive about getting too excited. The last time we had a membership, I stopped because I tore the meniscus in my knee and it was extremely painful every time I worked out. This time I have tried doing some different exercises that don't put too much pressure on my knee. So far so good, and I had forgotten how addicting it is to work out. I love the rush!

Secondly, I got some new shoes, this was much needed and needs no explaining, but still definitely a GOOD thing!

Lastly, Tyler rode his bike so fast to school today I could hardly keep up, I am SO proud of him!

and if we're talking about kids, I just love all of mine. In fact, as I type this, Brooklyn is using her "older sister persuasion" to help the other kids eat their dinner that they absolutely, positively refused to eat. So, I said, "Fine, you're going to bed hungry like Max."(Where the Wild Things Are.) and I came up here to download the pictures... and I hear her talking to them, and she is counting the bites they eat. What does she have that I don't? I do not know, but I am grateful for such an amazing kid!

Ok, one more. eggnog. Yes, I LOVE eggnog and I would be a much skinnier girl without it, but it's just soooo good! I'm finally glad eggnog is back is the grocery store, it's been awhile and if it were up to me, I'd buy it all year, but then again, back to the skinny thing, that wouldn't be so good...

T-ball and Trophies

T-ball is fun! This is Tyler's first t-ball experience, and we are all enjoying it. Minus the 92' + humidity weather. That leaves for a bunch of sweaty little boys and girls, along with some anxious moms and dads.

Coach Amy and her husband are really great for the kids. She is always complimenting them on their achievements and encouraging them to do more. Tyler is so talented he likes to always do offense and defense at the same time. He goes to bat, hits the ball between second and first...then hustles to get ball, ... then runs on the first base. The advantage I see is that nobody else can get the ball, right? It's great! and so funny.

Yesterday was picture day and they were all so precious. It also happened to be "Pick-out-your-trophy-day" for the end of the season... which is only about 4 weeks away. So, I got designated as the "picker-outer" and I had some other moms come look for me, so I couldn't do too much damage. Well, they pretty much were all similar, except two small trophies that consisted only of a mitt and ball.... very simple, very nice, original. We ALL agreed on those two, then picked one and called it good. SO, I decided (the nice mom that I am) to show Tyler, so he could be soooo excited! Well, do you think he wanted the "simple" trophy? NO. He didn't like that one. He wanted the most obnoxious, TACKY, 1 foot high of fake gold and shimmery accents trophy. Too bad. There will be plenty of those later, I'm sure. Hopefully he likes it when he doesn't see all of the other ones around.

La Cucaracha

Jeff and I have prepared a very special dance for all of you to view. We spent a lot of time for this presentation... check it out!

http://www.jibjab.com/starring_you/receipt/915241

ps. we are soooo HOT!

GRILLZ

David, or Uncle David I should say, is slaving away at Baylor Dental School, and apparently making a name for himself. I can't remember if this is his first year or second... but I definitely have gotten a few good laughs out of stories. Doing MRI's on a gorilla head, cadavers with implants, (implants not related to anything dental that is; yes, mom told me about that), and studying bats teeth. He has given Tyler PLENTY to talk about by showing him his text book with X-ray pictures in it. (BONES are so cool!)

Enough said, here's the link to a free viewing of the most popular video ever made about "grillz."
(I'll just preface this by saying Jeff and I thought that was some new BBQ thing...WE are soooooo out of it!) ENJOY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAsclxa-HAw

Care for a mint?

You might have heard that from a restaurant server before... Or maybe from your husband, or wife, after an Italian dinner laced with garlic, and your breath really needs a pick-me-up... But, when Brooklyn offered a mint to Tyler the other day, things got a little crazy. Minutes later, Tyler was screaming that his nose burned... Yes, it was stuck up his nose. (Now, I'm going to add right here that this was in the back seat of Jeff's car, and I was not present.)

So, Jeff finished driving home (he can function much better than I can under distress... ) and asked Tyler to blow his nose into a tissue. Jeff said, "A lot of snot came out" and assumed the mint did too. I guess actually checking that massive amount of snot in the tissue wad was just not on the agenda.

So, for three day I agonize whether the mint actually did come out or not. A mint up the nose could be dangerous if it got stuck somewhere weird... at least I imagine it that way. And from doing that insane test a few months ago where they stuck a cord up my nose and into my stomach (Don't even ASK!) I know exactly what that feels like, EXCRUCIATINGLY painful, it put me to tears... I usually don't cry when I'm physically in pain, but I think all that stuff is pretty close to the tears ducts.

Still worried (typical mom---JEff was over this about a week ago), I even got down on my knees about this a few times. (I even combed through that snotty tissue---NO MINT IN IT.) I even rehashed the whole event a few more times and asked Jeff a million questions about what happened, what was said? and who did what? (That is always the woman's job, right? Someone has to find out EXACTLY what happened, and who said what?) During one of those interrogations, I discovered Jeff actually never saw the mint in the nose after they got out of the car. That presented a whole new slew of scenarios. What to do? Since there were no further complaints about the nose, I decided to put it behind us.

Then, late last night in our bathroom, after I had taken one of my nightly baths... I see IT. A single, beat-up looking mint on the bathroom floor. Who knows if it is the same mint... but it's good enough for me. Case Closed!

Dancing Queen...

Brooklyn is officially in her first dance class! That's a big deal for a 6 year old girl, right? She's especially lucky enough to be the same class as her sweet little friend Grace (who is her "TWIN", because they have the same birthday, not to mention happened to be born in the same hospital, basically we could've been right down the hall from each other and didn't even know it, pretty crazy!) and another cute girl from school, Fallon.

This is actually her second day going, but I'm not counting the first day, because she was sick. She insisted she felt fine enough to go, so we went to dance. I thought she must not have been that sick, right? She totally put on a happy face the entire time, hugged me right when she came out of the class, said goodbye to all her new friends... then, she threw up IMMEDIATELY upon entering the car. So, I'm not really counting that day.

Well, here's to jazz dance class!

OK, It's final!

We finally chose a brick. It wasn't our first, second or third choice... but we are happy!

The Brick Dilemma

All I'm going to say is that it's not over!!!

Tyler's school

Tyler started his last year of preschool today. HOORAY!!! I have been waiting all summer for this. (Having only one kid at home now feels so much more easy than it did when I just had Brooklyn).

Tyler is going to the same great place as last year, with the same teacher Brooklyn had at 4 yrs old. She is the sweetest teacher EVER and we're so excited to have one more year with her! Tyler has many of his friends from his class last year in this new class along with 3 kdis from primary too. That should be so FUN!

After his first day he told me all about the "REAL" alligator he saw, (I'm thinking.... on a picture, on a nature video?) then he explained it was a "REAL" alligator puppet, and his name is Al. I'm glad he still thinks puppets are real, nice to not have them them grow up too fast. Looking forward to a really fun year, this is one of my favorite ages!

She's a BRICK.... HOOOUUUSE

OK, For those of you that haven't been following the brick saga... we finally picked one. And that was NO small feat!!! WE had actually picked a few other colors previous to this and were told those selections were discontinued... Come on people, be a little more flexible!

Our sales representative will probably use us as an example now when he's helping other customers..."Yes, it's a little hard to decide, you might want to look at the brick on an actual house first... I had this one neurotic couple who drove all around the city over and over and over again (and missed the deadline a few times) before they could decide..."

My good friend actually told us we were spending more time picking out brick than she did on her children's names... that's funny, but she pretty much hit it on the mark that time.

The problem was, we both like the traditional red bricks, but the house is a very "Texas style" (a little rustic looking, wooden shutters...), so it's no surprise the brick selections we were allowed to chose from were called the "Texas Collections." Well, the dilemma came when we tried to match traditional red brick with the rustic looking Texas house. After Jeff knocking on several doors and asking people what color their brick is (if someone asked me that, I'd have no earthly idea), we think we have a winner!!! It's called Santa Fe Trail. I know in the future I will want to remember what a fun journey this was.

Who's on First?

Yeah, we made it through the summer... another summer gone and another school year to look forward to.

Well, Brooklyn is on first today, first grade that is.... The first day of first grade! That only happens once (or should only happen once). She was SO excited. Who wouldn't be? She gets to escape brotherly teasing and hang out with big kids at school all day long. Her teacher Mrs. Strother seems great, and Brooklyn already knows kids in her class from last year. Everything should be fun! As we walked through the hallway to the first grade hallway we passed many other teachers (music teacher, prinicpal, and more...) and Brooklyn says hi to each one as we go by and they remember her and say hi... she has really blossomed since she started school last year. It has given her a new confidence and independence. We are so excited for her!

Pursuit of Happiness...

Brooklyn and I got to take a trip to California to visit family! We had so much fun between the broadway show Wicked, "witch" was SPECTACULAR, and Disneyland!!! We also found out Brooklyn has a hidden talent... Hoola-Hooping!!! She is awesome!


The most fun had by Brooklyn was playing with her cousin Maddie, who she hasn't seen in over a year. She also loves to cuddle with her Grammy and had fun playing a game with Grampy! It's hard to connect with family very often when we live on the other side of the continent...AKA Texas! Here are some shots of Brooklyn and her cousins at the Happiest Place on Earth.

Field Trip: ZOO

So much fun! We met Heather and Cisco at the zoo and had a blast. We saw the trainers and the tiger, the baby elephant playing with a stick (sounds familiar... what little boy can refuse a good stick?), went to the petting zoo, craned our necks to watch the beautiful giraffes and got wet in the splash area. (not to mention crawling in a tunnel with pirahnas all around and watching the bats up close.)