3 funny pics

Wanna Know....

What I did today?? You know you want to!



These were all the clothes that were either on the floor in Bryant's closet or that I removed from his closet and dresser today to do the GREAT CLOTHES SORT that I dread doing every 6 months or so. Please keep in mind that this is just one child's clothing. I worked from about 10 am until about 8 pm on this with only small breaks to feel kids lunch, change laundry around, or referree fights! :) I'm still not done putting all the clothes that Tres had outgrown up. But here is Bryant's closet now....

Ta Da!!!

I should have taken a wider shot to show you the clean floor. To the left and right sides of his closet are little alcoves. On the left is an organizer I use for his shoes, blankets, sheets, and diapers. On the right is a dresser for his pjs, t-shirts, etc.



Here is the organizer on the left. Doesn't it look all nice and neat!

Well, there you have it. What I did with my day, and most of my night... and some of tomorrow too! Aren't you glad you know? Don't you wish you could've helped? Won't you just sleep better tonight? I think I'm gonna crash now!

Here's the Visual

This picture should go with >>> this August 13th <<< post!

Who the heck?

Today, the boys and I took my Mom out for a while. We picked her up (she's still on a low dose of pain meds) and took her to Chili's. I was really the one craving it, since I love their lettuce wraps. But Mom is always up for indulging a craving! Although, not too indulgent these days... she's dropped 15 pounds since her surgery and she wants to keep it going. So we split the lettuce wraps and an entree. The boys loved it too! Then we took a trip over to Party City to find some stuff for Tres's fourth birthday. Who the heck said my baby could grow up??? He has made all the decisions about this party... except for the when and where. He picked out a pinata and a Scooby Doo theme. He was also quite adament about having the Scooby Doo table clothe, which Mommy thought was a waste of money. I lost that one. He is so grown up now. He marched around that store like he owned it! He even walked up to one of the employees and asked him where the Scooby Doo party hats were... we didn't find any. I'm honestly a little sad. While I enjoy all the fun 3-4 year old stuff. He is growing more and more independent. When we first got to Chili's today, we were waiting on the hostess to seat us. Tres, Bryant, and Mom sat on a bench just long enough for three. I remained standing talking to them, until my little man stood up and said, "You can sit down, Momma." Again, who the heck said he could grow up?????
I took Mom home after that, since she tires out easier these days. The boys played with their cousins while I helped Mom rested. We waited around to see Grandaddy for a minute... and that turned into a quick swim for the boys while I helped Mom put together a quick dinner.
Fun and full day.

Not Feeling Too Hot

Me, that is. Early Sunday morning, Tres woke us up saying he had a nightmare about a teddy bear and a spoon. He made me go check and make sure that they weren't in the bathroom. Even before he came in, I was feeling like I had indigestion. So after he woke me us, I couldn't go back to sleep cause it felt worse. I ended up on the couch for a while, then in the bathroom puking for a while! :( I stayed home from church Sunday morning, while the boys and Hank went on. I felt drained yesterday and still feel puny today. So here is what we have been doing at my house...



Watching TV and resting. I would like to meet the 'they' that say you should not let your children watch more than a hour of tv a day. I want to know if they have kids. And if they do, how they manage to get housework done, dinner cooked, and laundry done without this blessed distraction. I don't feel like this every day. I did manage to spend time with the boys reading books, and we had a 'carpet picnic' (since it's too ding dang hot to have one outside). But they are enjoying Chicken Little right now.

Saturday & Soccer

Tres had his team pictures this past Saturday. It was the first time we got to see all of his little teammates. Man was it hot!! Tres was ready to leave almost immediately because the boy HATES to sweat! Bryant had brought along some toys, so he was all right. Tres did well for his individual pic, but when it came time for the team pic, a lot of the kids had hit their heat endurance limit! But, after bribing Tres with ice cream, he cooperated, and all was well. We let the boys jump in some space bounces they had set up, and then we headed out of there.






There were a couple of other kids there, but they refused to participate! We did Tres hair spikey again, but by the time the team picture was taken, it was flat again!

Hank's photo-shoot with Bry

Breaking News!

Tres has learned to whistle! He came into my room while I was putting away laundry and said, "Hey Mom, check this out!"





Other things we are working on this week:

Making his own bed.
Dressing himself.
Cleaning up his own toys.
Learning soccer!!!




We went to the orientation meeting for his Start Smart Soccer program on Tuesday night. He is so excited! He kept talking directly to April, who was running the meeting and coordinates the program while she was speaking. He likes to put his shin guards on all the time!

Tell me how you really feel

Tonight, Hank and I took the boys to the park for a change. We had dinner under the pavilion and let them play well past sundown. It was nice. No one was at the park except us. As we were headed to the pavilion to eat, Tres picked a weed. I guess he thought it was a dandelion, because he was blowing on it like he expected it to blow away. When nothing happened, he got this look of disgust on his face, threw the weed on the ground, and said, "Piece of crap!"



I took this picture of Tres the other night after his bath. He has been doing this fake laugh thing lately where he sort of forces a laugh out, followed by "That's the funniest thing I never heard!"

Dinner with friends

This past Monday night, our friends and newlyweds, Jennifer and Eric Snyder stopped by for an unplanned dinner. We had such a good time just visiting and laughing at the kids! My boys LOVE 'eyic' and 'enfer!' Eric was trying to help Bryant remember some colors (which until recently he could care less about!). So he would hold something yellow up and ask him what color it was. Bryant would say "Puple." And Eric would say, "No, yellow." And Bryant would echo "yeyo." They would repeat this over and over, until we finally realized that Bryant was teasing Eric by intentially saying the wrong color. At one point, they were yelling "Yellow!" at each other! It was so funny!

"Yellow!"

Playdate

Last week, I invited one of my friends, Jaime and her two boys, Luke and Logan over to play! She has two boys right around the ages of my two. The boys played so well, that Jaime and I got to catch up and talk and eat cookies for a good long time! The boys played with literally everything in both Tres and Bryant's room. They ended the play date by pulling out the dress up clothes. We had Buzz Lightyear, a Power Ranger, Spiderman, and combination of everything in between!

Logan loved this Buzz Lightyear costume!

Luke was a very strong Spiderman!



The best part to me was reconnecting with an old friend. Jaime and I had gone to part of high school together and to college together, so getting to spend time with her after all these years was wonderful!

My Mom!

Hey guys! I have someone else started on a blog! Go and check out my ~~Momma's~~ blog! I got her started because I know she will love it too! Go by and tell her hi!

The Early Bird Catches The Worm?

Not in this case! Crystal and I got in line right around 5 am this morning, as per the instructions given us on Saturday. We waiting for hours in line. The cool thing is that we were in a good position and saw Ryan Seacrest shooting some stuff for the show. Go to Crystal's blog for pictures. Because my digital camera was a 2-in-1 with a camcorder, I couldn't take it in with me. So she was the designated picture taker. We also saw Mayor Kincade... and many, many, many more 'interesting' people! :)

About 9 am we finally got into our seats in the BJCC. We weren't too far from the place where they began auditions, so we kind of breathed a sigh of relief that we wouldn't be there ALL DAY! We were instructed by a producer to sing 'Sweet Home Alabama' over and over and over again, and to cheer for a camera that came around and around the BJCC. And we did several cheers... like "Reuben, Bo, Taylor, and Me! I'm the next American Idol!" So cheese, I know. Then the auditions began. They lined up 13 tables across the length of the arena. At each table, four contestants would try out before a panel of two producers. If they liked you, they gave you a coveted golden ticket. If not, they thanked you for your time and you left. It was fun, but I'm glad that I'm now officially 'too old' to try out anymore.

I honestly don't think I could have left my family for the length of the show anyway! And a big big big BIG thank you to my pal Crystal for enduring the heat, lines, and body odor to experience it with me!

A Few More A.I. Pictures

For some reason, I couldn't get blogger to upload these on the previous post! So enjoy!



This is Crystal with a new friend, Shelly. She is trying out as well. She came by herself from Mississippi (close to Tupelo). She is going to sing 'Some Kind of Wonderful' as sung by Joss Stone. She was cool and a lot of fun to hang out with! Good luck, Shelly! I hope I get to see you again on Monday!

Also, take a look at the crowd behind them. We were on the ramp near the doors at this point. The line went down the ramp, around a curve, and then snaked around 5-8 times. It was craziness!



Here's a shot of the line as it was forming behind us. If you look close, you can see Keri (a member of the group I sing in) keeping her sister Kourtney company as she waits to try out. Keri is wearing an orange/turquoise/brown scarf on her head!

Loooonnnnggggg Day!

So Crystal and I made it into Bham by 4 am and joined a rather short line that was developing. We kept trying to sit down, and every time we did, the line would shift up, so we stood most of the time. By the time that they opened the registration doors, it was humid, and people were beginning to annoy one another and we had been standing up for a good three hours! We saw one girl with hair so long, she had to literally hold it up from dragging the floor. We saw hot pants, tatoos, heavy eyeshadow, bras worn with tube tops. We also saw some very attractive people. Some of the people in line decided to show everyone why they were there and belted out a few tunes. One guy kept singing and singing and singing. Some sounded great and others sounded not so great, but wanted to very badly! It was so fun! At least to this dedicated people watcher. Definitely an experience. Registration was short and sweet. We got wristbands and tickets and were told to come back on Monday. We were headed home by 8:15 or so.

They gave us a list of dos and don'ts. Darn it! I can't bring my fire arm with me! :) They also instructed us to bring sunglasses... and to learn Sweet Home Alabama.

I picked up breakfast for my boys on the way home. Once I got here, we ate, then Hank let me nap for a couple of hours. Latter in the afternoon, we took the boys to see the Ant Bully. It was funny and disgusting all at once. We also took the boys to ride the carousel at the mall. I saw a lot of wristbands there!

At four in the morning, we thought it was a good idea to try a Coke Black. I know I won't buy another one!

Not long before registration!

American Idol Registration

So here I sit at 3:05 am all ready to head to the BJCC to register to audition for American Idol. So funny. Yesterday, I kept asking myself why I was doing this. I mean, I'm a realist after all. Do I really think that from this massive audition, someone is going to see something in me that stands out... and that I would eventually be on the American Idol stage?? I don't know, probably not. But wouldn't it be fun to try?? How much closer could they get to me? So why not just go, have some fun, visit with my friend Crystal who is going with me, and enjoy the experience. I would be kind of funny if a housewife with two young kids made it, huh? I'm gonna make Crystal listen to all the songs I've been thinking of doing. I have several friends who've tried out in recent years, and they had some good advice for me. One of them made it to the Hollywood round last year!! They told me to be ready with 1 up tempo song and 1 slow tempo song. To make sure I sing loud when I have my audition, because there will be other auditions going on at the same time and you want to get noticed, and to have a good story. Hmmmm.... things to do today: 1- Be loud. 2- Come up with a story! :)

Bad News Bears

Two Mondays ago, we ended up stranded on the side of the freeway, when out van went dead on us. It turned out, that we ran out of gas... but we aren't exactly sure how.

Hank had a mild fender bender Wednesday. We are waiting to see if the guy files a claim with his insurance.

That same day, Hank called me at 7pm and told me his car wouldn't start. After driving up there to get him, it turned out he had left a light on and it drained the battery.

Thursday night, someone gave me a atomic fireball. On my way home, I decided to crunch it in half and chipped one of my teeth. It has started to ache today.

Good times! But guess what?? God is still good!

Upcoming events for the Boemers!

Saturday, August 19- 6am Registration for the American Idol Auditions in Birmingham
Sunday, August 20- My brother Matt's birthday
Monday, August 21- American Idol Auditions
Tuesday, August 22- American Idol Auditions (possible carry-over)
Tuesday, August 22- Parent meeting for Tres's Start Smart Soccer program
Saturday, August 26- Opening Ceremonies for Tres's Start Smart Soccer program

Here is someone else....

that I want you all to meet and make welcome!! My 9-year-old niece Maggie, had her own blog now! So go by HERE and say hello to her!

Getting Ready

So, I was up early this morning packing the boys' lunch to take to'Miss Cicals house' when Bryant got up. I told him I had to go to work and he got upset.

He laid his little head (that smelled just like his baby shampoo) on my shoulder and said, "I na go Miss Cicals house."

I told him that he could make me an arts and crafts project. Then I used the majic words... "You can go see Miss Vickie today."

He popped his little head up, bunched his brows together, and said, "Mickey na ah hooommmee."

"She will be today!" I assured him.

He smiled at me, and said, "Mickey as 'awberries?"

Heads up, 'Mickey!'

A Tres Story

A couple of weeks ago, the boys were down for rest time and I was catching up on my blogging. Out of the corner of my eye, I see Tres peek his head into my bedroom. I look up, and Tres runs in butt naked!

"Tres!" I said, "What happened to your clothes?"

"They just fell off, Momma," he says. Then he wraps his arms around his torso, rocks back and forth and says, "Mom! Somethings taking over my body!" Then he leans towards the door, and takes off running back to his room.

I love having boys. You just never know what they are gonna do next!

Making Monster Cookies

Saturday night, us Boemers decided to make some cookies to take over to my mom's house. I found what I thought sounded like a fun and tasty recipe and picked up a few things we would need without looking at the quantities in the recipe. So you can imagine my surprise when I get into making these cookies, and quantities like 12 eggs, 2 pounds of sugar, etc are listed!! I halfed the recipe, but that still yielded over 120 cookies!

Well, the boys had a blast 'helping' me add ingredients, stirring, and eating the M&M's! As you can tell by the bowl... this truely was a monster recipe!

Power Rangers Unite!

My boys absolutely love to play dress up! Not a day goes by that they don't drag one costume or another into the den or my bedroom, or wherever I happen to be and ask me to help them get it on. I think the plan right now is to be Red Power Rangers for Halloween. Of course, that could change at any minute... so stayed tuned!

I Just Got...

...smacked across the forehead with a green light saber. Jedi Bryant uses great force.

My Mom- part 2

Today was long but good. Jennie (my oldest sister) spent last night with us, to keep her mind off of Mom being in the hospital. She gets super anxious about stuff like that, and two active little boys pulling on her seemed to be just the thing to keep her occupied and smiling!

This morning, Jennie and I headed over to the hospital and sat with my Mom until my Dad got there. We were trying to have someone with her at all times so that when the doctor or nurses passed on any care info, it wasn't just her hearing it. While I was there, I asked her if anything (food wise) sounded good to her, and she told me that Chicken Tortilla Soup did. So once I was relieved, Jennie and I headed to the store, bought ingredients, and went home to make it.

Just as I am finishing that up, Dad calls and says they are on their way home. The doctor had finally come by and released her. She did not receive the best of care, but I am thankful that she is home. We thought we would get the results back on the mass that was removed, but no such luck.

Mom feels stronger today. Although she is still very sleepy and out of it, she is more herself and is even making jokes! She is getting up and down pretty well. She still needs help getting up, and kind of needs a spotter after she is up. But once her pain medicine is lowered, she will be just fine. She won't be able to drive for a couple of weeks, and she won't be able to lift anything over 10 pounds for about 6. But other than that... life should return to relative normal in a week or so!

Once I got Jennie and the soup delivered, I came home, and made another pot of soup for my family. Then the boys, Hank, and I made some Monster cookies. Go to here for the recipe.

My Mom

Yesterday, my mom had surgery to remove a mass around her esophagus. The surgery was over by noon or so, but we didn't find out until late yesterday what happened in surgery, because the doctor got tied up on a few emergencies.

Initially, they had thought that when they operated, they would have to cut through her breastbone (sternum), to get to the mass. Then they said, they may be able to avoid that. So we were wondering what it was.

They did actually cut her sternum in order to get to the mass. They also removed four lymphnodes that were attached to the mass. The doctor said that they did not look suspicious to him, but he sent them off for testing and that we would know for sure by the time she comes home Saturday.

Because they had to cut her sternum, and it is now wired back together, her recovery is going to be hard. She can't lift her arms or use them at all right now. If she does, it could cause the breastbone to rub against one another and prevent them from fusing back together properly. If you know my mom... dedicated to all things grandbaby... you know that this is going to be difficult. She is going to want to cuddle and hug and pick up all of our cute kids and she won't be able to for a while.

Please say a prayer for Betty Fay today. I hate seeing my Mom in pain. I am going up to see her on my lunch break today. I spoke to her very briefly this morning, and she sounds better than yesterday, but slightly more aware and tired. If you want to see her, give me a call. She is now in a regular room, and can have flowers too.

The doctor threw out some scary words yesterday. So, Lord, we are trusting you to keep my Mom healthy. You are the great physician Lord. Give my Mom the strength she needs, physically, emotionally, and spiritually to make it through this recovery process. Thank You, Lord for nothing but good news and reports. And thank You, Lord for peace right now and help my Mom to rest safely in You.

Reunion

When we got home from Colorado, it was actually at 2:30 on Sunday morning. We didn't get to see the boys until church on Sunday. So when we got home, we were able to hug on them and kiss them and give them some gifts from our trip.

Hank came up with this whole adventure for them. Since the first thing we got them was splunking hats, that had actual flashlights on them, Hank set up a cave in the den and spread out their other prizes like treasure under it. So they had to wear their hats to find the other prizes. The other prizes were small, but you would have thought we gave them the world. They got some bubble gum shaped like gold nuggets in a little gold bag. They got some magnetic rocks that have entertained Bryant for hours! Another bag of colorful non-magnetic rocks. Bryant got a really big silkie/blanket that we hope replaces all the other little silkies. And Tres got an Indian headress, a tomohawk, and a canteen.







After spending not quite enough time with my guys, I had to head out to go and sing with 'el at a church here in Calera. But when I got home, Bryant came and curled up in my lap and fell fast asleep. And since those moments are few and far between, I sat and rocked him after he had fallen asleep for about an hour.



One tired but blessed Mommy!

What a Day!

So I am filling in for my dad's office manager the rest of the week, and until Wednesday of next. I did not realize how much I would miss seeing and playing with my little guys today.

Also, my mom had surgery today. She had a mass removed from around her vocal chord area. She is in a little pain and is groggy, but she is doing all right. After work, I went and checked on her myself.

I'm also feeling a little shakey these days for some reason. I have a 'visitor' and for some reason, that is making me feel so super draggy this month. I mean, I could seriously lay down right now and not get up till morning.

Thank goodness, Tres and Bryant are being pretty low-key kids right now. One's in the tub and the other is watching Stuart Little. I made a pork roast in the crock pot today, so dinner was easy. Thank God for my crock pot!

I'm also feeling a little lethargic about another area of my life. I need some prayers if you got a few to spare. I need some direction, and I just don't know what else to do except keep on pressing in.

Okay, enough rambling! Let me go make sure Tres is getting clean while he's playing scuba diver!

Love Birds

So Hank and I definitely met our quota of pictures together while we were on vacation!! This is one of my favorites! This was down at the creek by our lodge.

This is one of my favorite pictures of Hankie that I took while we were on our vacation. He is so stinkin' sexy!!

GMA 2006 Song of 2006 National Winner

The young lady who won was so genuine and nice. It was interesting to me to see all the people their really chasing a dream. But to me, it seemed like the dream was chasing her. Her name was Elizabeth Hunnicutt. I have her CD and love just about every song. I can't stop singing the song that won the 2006 Song of the Year at the GMA's. It's called 'Alright.' So if you want to check her out, just go here. You can check out song clips, and read more about her.

I'll be straight up with you guys... once I heard her song in my catergory, I knew it was gonna win. It was so good! And she was so super sweet and open the whole week we were there. I look forward to watching her as she pursues her God dream!

Wakey-Wakey!

So the last couple of days have been great. Getting my boys back and getting back to our day to day routines. Before we left for vacation, Tres would not take a nap, but he would 'rest' in his room watching TV or playing on his bed. So that still gave me some much needed 'Jamie time.' While we were gone, my Mom got him to nap just about every day. So I thought maybe I would try again with naps. Tuesday, I put them both down at 12... no TVs on and no toys near their beds... I turned on their fans, tucked them in and kissed them. They were both out in less than 10 minutes. By 4 O'CLOCK I was down-right lonesome!! So I went in and woke Tres up. This boy does not like to miss anything. So when he wakes up, he sits straight up with his eyes wide open (like a cartoon character or something) and starts talking. He said, "Mom, I have to tell you something. Tomorrow, you will leave just one TV on, and it will be mine." Today, he woke up and said, "Mom, I have to tell you something. I don't like to sleep when there's sunshine." He is such a character.

We are signing Tres up for a Jump Start Soccer program in Alabaster. When he was visiting his cousin Donovan, he went to a couple of his practices, and came home telling us he wanted to play. So we looked into it and found one close by. He is so excited about it! He makes me tell him stories about it at night. And I don't know much about soccer, so I have to improvise a lot or divert his attention to the fact that he will have a jersey to wear and wonder what color it will be!

Meet our new friend....

here he is, Chip,and believe us Dale was not far behind. These guys were everywhere at one spot in the mountains and they really wanted to play with us.

Love the Mountains

It is so beautiful here, the mountains are something we have never seen and their beauty never fades away, no matter how much you look at them.

Hank

I'm taking Jamie up to an elevation of 11,000 feet in an hour, right now we are at 7,000 feet

A great pic from our picnic

Here is a picture I took of Jamie on our picnic.

Hank

The honeymoon continues...

Hank and I are having a wonderful time together. It has been nice to have him all to myself (rubbing my hands together)! We have eaten at a quiet, quaint, and tiny little Italian restaurant. We're sat out on the porch and kissed just for the joy of kissing. And today, while I went to a class (taught by Mark Harris of 4Him), Hank packed a surprise picnic lunch and took me up the mountain for a picnic. It was the best! And now he is sitting here worrying about me because my song received some not-so-great reviews. I love my husband. He even went and brought me a feel better treat of ice cream. I'm okay... but I'm thinking I can play it up for a while and see what else he gets me! :)

New profile pic

Courtesy of Hank and the beautiful mountain scenary!

My baby boy update

After going to bed at like 2 am (pulling a Crystal!), Hank and I were woken up at about 5 am by a phone call from his sister. Tres is missing home, and begging us to come and get him. He said, "I only want to stay here four more hours on my fingers, Daddy." Then when I talked to him, he said, "Hey Momma," I answered him and said, "what's wrong baby?" and he broke down and said, "Hey Momma," so sweetly in a voice I knew meant he missed us. But it has made me miss my little guys so much... their hugs, their kisses, their laughs, their eyes, their silly faces, and funny voice, their little boy talk, and the way our little boys smell when they need a Mommy hug. You never know how much a part of you your children are until they aren't with you for a while.

Pictures

Here is a picture of the Afters in concert. One of the girls we are staying with knows them so we got to meet them and talk to them after the concert. They were real down to earth.
Here is Hank with Stephen Curtis Chapman getting his autograph for his co-worker Don.
Here are some pictures