Update:

Since my last blog, Lance and I have had a really good talk. We came to some agreements about disciplining the kiddos as well as understanding each other better. My monthly cycle came to visit me shortly after that blog, I'm thinking that didn't help in my emotions!! Lol, oh well! Our air conditioner is better than ever and running like a champ!! 

This was Dallas during our sleepover the 2nd night with no ac!

Lol, poor little guy!! We made our way to Lance's truck about 3 and slept in there until about 7:30! So thankful all that is over with!

Saturday Arielle had her cheer camp! They did a show off so the parents could see what they learned. She did pretty good! I was impressed! She smiled the ENTIRE time!! 

I got Arielle, Kasadie and Hailey in this picture. Maigen is down on the other end, I didn't get any of her :( 

Looking forward to games and seeing my girl cheer!! Lover her so much, extremely PROUD of her!!!!

Sunday was Kenzie's 2nd birthday party! 

She had a blast, we all did!!! 

Wowzers...rolling on over one of the slides! So hard to get up there!! Lol. 

Last night we decided last minutes to make fajitas for dinner, had everyone over after Kenzie's birthday party! the kids all played and had a good! 

Dallas and I are heading to Chuck E Cheese this evening for Kenzie's real birthday dinner. I will get more pics today! Can't wait to spend the night with my favorite little niece!! :) so blessed to be part of her life and see her grow into such a precious toddler!!

🎶"It's getting hot in here"🎶

Wowzers! I am on overload and my plate/cup runnith over!! Lol!! I spoke with Johns brother, Codi...an air conditioning expert a.k.a my main man, my hero, my bottom bitch (lol) While trying to find out why we have no cold ac, and walking me through different steps, I went outside to take a look at the outside unit once again. Lance and I fondled it last night at midnight trying to find a frozen spot...NOTHING, so today when I went to look again, BAM! There it is in broad daylight...melted water and a frozen coils! Duh, I'm pretty sure I could have been an ac repair man! Lol, I'm obviously kidding!!  So earlier today, we were on defrost mode for a couple of hours! I have fallen in a funk, so this was a great accomplishment that made me feel proud of myself!!! My Dad taught me to look for this at our old house and how to handle it---the last time we froze our unit! I am pretty thankful for him and Mr. Codi at the moment!! Dallas is took about an hour nap therefor I got to start this blog. I had to stop half way through because he woke up screaming for mama?!? It kind of bothers me he still does this but I'm used to it. I am revising this blog now, so I've had to change as I re-read! Arielle was supposed to go to her first cheer practice this evening from 6:30-8:30. Her mother was supposed to take her......I'm positive that would have been the LONGEST 2 hours of my life. Long story short, her Dad & Mom didn't think it's was important enough for her to go. Kind of breaks my heart that my input didn't matter. Needless to say, Arielle didn't go to her first practice of the season, she won't be going tomorrow either because she is riding with her grandma Cindy to take her mother to the airport :( I emailed her coach this evening to let her know and from what she explained she already missed so much just in one night. Tomorrow they work on stunts...what an exciting practice! Sad my girl won't be there with her fiends. Today was a very long, hot, day! There were many lows but too many highs to keep me down!! 

This little boy makes my whole world light up!! (Even after 2 pee-pee accidents & finding a huge wad of poop dangling at the leg of his boxers!) I still love this face! I am blessed beyond measure. I am thankful for such amazing friends and family!! Codi is coming early tomorrow morning to take a gander at the mess I have going on in the attic & outside! Apparently it's not just frozen coils. There is a reason for them freezing & we have to get to the culprit! Hoping for a cheap bill, but between you and I, I'd pay a million dollars to walk into a cold house!! Lol, I most certainly took that cold air blowing my hair for granted! We are laying in bed with 3 plug-in fans as well as the ceiling fan on high, and as close to naked as you can get with a 2 year old laying between you!! ;-) 

Shannon helped me get organized in my garage this last weekend, so I have a pile of goodies to take pictures of and post to Faceboook, Craigslist, eBay, or any other public accessible sight looking for a sucker to buy my old crap! LOL! I had a few porch pick-ups today, but haven't turned a profit due to buying other people's stuff! Vicious cycle I tell ya! Tomorrow I will work on getting pics taken, posting to sights and getting stuff sold!! 

Here is a picture of the dresser I recently purchased on Craigslist for $180. That included a nice gentleman & his fathers delivery as well as a big mirror. I wanted to use it as a buffet so now I've got to find a spot for the mirror. The piece is huge, I absolutely LOVE it! It made my whole entry seem "put together." 

Today I also had these chairs delivered from a lady on one of the Facebook sights in Rockwall. I have been waiting for about 2 weeks I think, but believe me...it was worth the wait! $20 for two matching paisley, skirted, parson chairs. They are so pretty and I really like them!! 

Sorry for the information overload, but my mind is on full speed! I haven't blogged enough lately and I have too much to say! Nevertheless, this evening I went for a jog alone while Dallas stayed with his Daddy. It was a good run, I pushed myself!

 I saw pictures from the block party we went to this past weekend and I was horrified to see how I've let myself go!

These look like great pictures of friends having a good time, but when you zoom in...BAM, there appears a girl who probably ate all the food at the party and is scoping out what human victim is next on her snack list. Lol! I already know I love to eat, so I am going to have to work extra hard, overtime style to be able to eat yummy treats and not resemble a grazing heifer!! Lol. Here are some cute ones of the kiddos though! 

Dallas, Kenzie, and Alliosn playing in the little pool at Jennifer Degulio's house. 

Maigen taking Dallas down the slip & slide

News flash: this next part is long and me blabbering...so feel free to quit reading now...Don't say I didn't warn you! 

Today was full of surprises...unfortunately not good ones 😧 and I hope tomorrow is a little calmer! I was thinking about taking Dallas for a Mommy/Son trip, just us...hopefully somewhere kinda close...And soon. Any suggestions or ideas are welcome! It feels like a good time in my life to give Lance some space and hope he understands me more if We aren't around and up his booty for a few days! (I know that's totally unexpected and out of left field) BUT, Lance and I have probably the WORST communication I've ever witnessed! I've been saying this for quite some time, but I think we are at a point that we need professional help! I "...stress him out and make things harder than they have to be..." No good husband deserves that from his wife!! To me, a wife should be uplifting and positive. So how did we get here? Lately, I have been standing up for what I feel is right in our kids life, and its taking a toll on our relationship as husband and wife. I firmly believe in the ol' saying... 

UNITED WE STAND, DIVIDED WE FALL. We are having a hard time getting on the same page with our kiddos! I give mad props to those in blended families making it work, day in and day out!!! Bless your hearts, it's the hardest thing I've ever done and apparently I'm failing 8 years later. But the good news is, it is what it is! I'm okay with whatever outcome I get! I know what I need and deserve ;-) I also want some changes to be made. Rest assured, Lance is an incredible Daddy to Dallas!!! I try to make things work for my little dude, but when it's not from your side, that's pretty hard to do. I can't imagine having to split our sons time between us...separately! It seems so cruel. Dallas is at a point where he associates everything having a mommy & a daddy. In most conversations about animals, he is very specific about a baby, mommy and daddy. Example: big sharks are daddy sharks, the small ones are baby sharks and any other medium size is appointed the mommy shark. Lol, he is so sweet and really into sharks right now! I question my relationship, how on earth did we get here?? A relationship is work, each and everyday it requires work-from both parties involved. Of course some days are easier than others, but those tough times are when it really counts! There is a certain reliability and stability in a marriage that makes you feel secure. You could over-come any obstacles because you both want to work hard to achieve goals together, as a team. However, I am lacking that sense of security! :( somewhere, something went wrong! I don't feel like Lance & I are a team. And when the goin' gets tough, I don't forsee that we will come out stronger...together. It's sad, but I have changed and sacrificed so much over the last few years. I am so thankful to be a stay-at-home-Mom to our son and be able to spend these valuable years with him. I know I have done well in raising ALL of our children the best way I know how!!! I am surprisingly very positive about my situation because I have faith in knowing I did the best I could with what I had to work with :) I am scared of change and will adapt to pretty much any situation with time...so bring on whatever tomorrow will bring! :) I am open and receptive! I honestly feel better being able to get some feelings out here!! Knowing only a few close friends read my blog, I know they have our best interest in mind and might even have some sound advice or suggestions :) I am so glad I can confide in my girls!!!!! They help keep me sane!!!!!! This post was super personal, but I warned you that I'd use this blog as a modern day diary!! Lol my phone might die soon, and both of my guys are asleep! Time for this mama to catch up on her shows and pretend I'm laying in a cold room filled with AIR CONDITIONING! 

Being spontaneous RoCkS!!

Lo Here it starts: The Poe's, the kids and myself were sitting around talking about something fun to do Saturday. After throwing some ideas around, Shannon asked Dallas what he wanted to do. Dallas wanted to, "see baby sharks...and dolphins." 

Long story short, John said Shannon and I weren't spontaneous enough to hop in the car and head to San Antonio to hit up the River walk and SeaWorld. CHALLENGE ACCEPTED! While Shannon and I were throwing toiletries in a bag, and grabbing outfits, John had our hotel arranged and booked in minutes! (Free to us since he's accumulated so many points through work trips) Arielle had excitedly called her mom and packed her bag--in record time. 

We spent the night with the Poe's and had our alarms set for 4:00am! We left out of there about 5, and drove to San Anton :) We got to stop at the Little Czech Bakery I always hear about. It was definitely good and worth the wait! I got a ham and cheese thingy, yumm-o!! Also picked up a big baseball cookie for Dallas. We made a stop at the ever loving Buckeys on our excursion! We finally made it to SeaWorld, and couldn't wait to get through the gates and explore! 

We saw this trainer working with the dolphins. 

It was wonderful for Dallas to be able to see the dolphins so close and in their enviroment. Awhile back, the girls and I had a dolphin encounter on one of our cruise excursions in the Bahamas. Dallas stayed behind and slept on the beach with his Daddy, so this was his first experience to get to see them.

Next we walked through the shark exhibit, so Dallas could get excited! 

The fish were so bright and colorful! (one of my favorite parts of any aquarium!) Presley enjoyed looking at the fish too! 

Presley was so good all day long! She seemed to have a great time too!

I felt so special, Presley wore an outfit I got her for her baby shower. It was a bright romper with a "P" embroidered on her leg and a matching hat with her name on it! She looked precious as she can be! Also, I think this was Shannon's first time to carry Miss Priss for an extended amount if time in her Baby Bjourn. Presley AND Shannon did wonderfully! Never heard a peep out of either of them!

We really enjoyed seeing all the different kinds of sharks and fish! Next, we went to the show, Azul. The show had beautiful birds, dolphins, acrobats, and the trainers wore brightly colored outfits. It was cool to watch!! 

We happened to see Franklin from Nick Jr. hangin' out at SeaWorld. Surprisingly, Dallas wasn't scared. That's about the only show we watch on Nickelodeon, so Dallas was familiar with this ol' turtle. 

We stood in line FOREVER to ride a Big Bird ride in Elmo's Bay of Play. We were trying to hurry to catch a new show for summer, Pets Ahoy! -It was really cute. I am really fascinated at how they train them to do all those tricks. I was surprised to learn that they adopt animals from the shelter to train for this show. I find that pretty cool. They don't allow flash photography in this show as it is an indoor show and it's dark. Therefor, we don't have many pictures from this show. 

Here is a picture of Shannon and the babies! dallas was wrapping his arms around them hugging and kissing them, but of course I missed that picture! Afterwards, we got to walk up to the stage and see a couple of dogs that were big stars on the show. Dallas really liked petting the dogs! :)

This was Dallas' first time to ride on something like this. He actually liked it and wasn't frightened like I thought he might be. 

When we stopped for lunch, I realized how "random" people are. That's a big generalized umbrella because some were rude, grumpy, stressed, and the list goes on and on. I think people tend to freak a little when it comes to finding a table in a crowded restaurant. Patience are worn thin by all bystanders waiting in food lines....I get it! People are hungry, looking for friends or family, searching for a table big enough, once again...the list goes on and on. However, I think we would function as humans if we were a little bit more self-less and giving as well as friendly. There were tons of Middle Easterners and I'm pretty sure we "as Texans" have been raised quite differently. It was a bit of a culture shock for me :-/ 

This girl on the other hand, shows me that manners do work! She is usually so polite and respectful ;-) I am always so proud of her. I know I can count on her in public or even at home...either way, she impresses me. I love this sassy pants so very much and I am thankful to be able to spend these years with her. We are creating memories everyday and I am glad she is part of my life. 

Here are a few pics from Elmo Rocks! Arielle took her little brother down in "the pit" area to get closer and see the show from a different perspective. 

We also made it to the One Ocean show starring SHAMU the killer whale and some of his friends! 

 

I always love seeing Shamu and the cool stuff they get these huge creatures to do. 

Our last show was the sea lions which we thought about skipping. I am so glad we didn't, this was one of my very favorites!!! They poked fun at some of the other shows featured at SeaWorld. Since this was our last show, we sat in the front row of the splash zone! We got wet a few times! Arielle and I loved it, but it was chilly and Dallas wasn't a fan. 

This was by far the funniest show! ;-) 

After a long day of making sure these kiddos got their fill of fun and excitement, we were ready to head to the hotel and check out the River Walk! We had been shoving cold, frozen treats down their throats and making sure they got plenty of water. We also kept reapplying sunscreen so they wouldn't get a sun burn. Dallas was good actually! He was excited and pretty well behaved for the majority of the trip! I have to remind myself he's just a toddler and has the attention span of a chihuahua. I have also got to work on positive reinforcement instead to staying on his case all day, everyday. We are truly blessed to be able to take a syontaneous trip like we did!! We had a blast and it was great fun to do something different. I try to thank my husband daily for working so hard for our family!!!