Working the Catwalk

Zachy modeling what could be the coolest pjs in pj history. I do need the hem the legs once I can get them off of him.

Christmas 2009

Here are a few shots from Christmas morning. We had a very nice morning that started with the boys sleeping in until 7. Santa had a tough go of it Christmas Eve as JT was sleeping with one eye open the entire night. Since the stockings were hung on the boys' bed, Santa opted to leave their stocking presents with their slippers in the hallway. We will see if he does this again next year as both boys thought it was a very cool thing.

The gift recap: Zachy got lots of Star Wars stuff. JT got lots of baseball stuff and a bike. Both boys got legos and books and some new video games. They have given every item a go at least once and love them all. Hopefully they realize how fortunate they are to have such great family and friends.

a treat while you wait

I promise that I am getting around to loading some photos from Christmas. While you wait, please enjoy a very cute photo of LJ wearing her new jacket while using her new cell phone.

Pierogis

This Christmas week has been bittersweet. We have enjoyed spending a quiet week at home and with some good friends but we also really miss Nana Juju and Grandpa Pete. We've already agreed that next year we will be together. To make Christmas as close to what it is with Nana and Grandpa, JT and I spent the morning making pierogis. We have been trained well over the past few years and had great success with our first attempt. I did not have as good of luck with my cake making, which means I have to go empty handed to a friend's Christmas dinner.

We miss you Nana and Grandpa but we are looking forward to seeing you in the summer and for next Christmas!

Sleeping Santa

At 7 AM JT announced that his world was probably going to end because he did not have a Santa hat to wear for his class party. I of course ended up tearing apart a dollar store Christmas display to get the last two Santa hats (I didn't want to endure any fights over a hat). At least JT continues to wear his even when napping. He has also worn it to bed at night.

Wise Guy

Zachy had a Christmas play at school this week. It was great fun to watch all the kids sing and say their lines. Zachy has been singing around the house for a couple of weeks and may now be an expert at Joy to the World. I can't help but wonder if he will be singing it well after Christmas; it will be like the scene in the Santa Claus where the little boy is playing Christmas music and acting like Santa during the summer. Rick has a brief video on his computer that I can hopefully get uploaded later.
Of course no Christmas play is complete without your girlfriend in the audience. Zachy was tickled that Izzy came out to see him and agreed to get ice cream with him afterwards.

Coraline Lucas

Here is the newest addition to the Lucas family. She is really big on sleeping right now but hopefully she will get adjusted to life at the house and start hanging out with everyone.

It was hard to get a good photo because she likes to hang in my closet, which is honestly the last place I want any photos taken.

getting in the swing of it

A few shots of all we've been up to in the past few weeks including the Chuy's Parade, some dough ornaments, decorating the tree, and some very sugary Polish Christmas cookies. It is a good thing Aunt Paula sent us a batch of official cookies from Mazurek's in Buffalo because ours weren't nearly as good but they were very pretty.

5 AM Battle

My life was spared earlier this week when I unknowingly stepped in to the middle of a Jedi/Gormiti battle. A few days later and the battle is still going but from the sounds of it tonight they have called to a truce and are attending Jedi/Gormiti school event with teachers, parents, and students. Zachy is assigning Jedi homework.

Ole Kirk Christiansen

I want to give Mr. Ole Kirk Christiansen a big Thank You!
In 1949 you decided to start plastic bricks, calling them "Automatic Binding Bricks."  In 1953 you decided to rename Automatic Binding Bricks to Lego Mursten, or "Lego Bricks." (Good choice!)

Legos are the one toy in our house that provide hours of entertainment, joy, and silence. Zach tends to build ships while JT likes to plan out cities, space stations, houses or create some lego building contest.

One of Zachy's latest creations.

Gratitude

As the boys get bigger and life gets just a little busier everyday, I am learning to value the few minutes or hours I get to spend with close friends. It would be so much easier to just stay at home during the rare moments when neither boy has an activity, playdate, sporting event, birthday party, or school event but then we would miss out on those special moments when we meet up with friends for evening ice cream at DQ or brunch with the Nguyens during their whirlwind Turkey Trot in Texas.
As we gear up for Thanksgiving and reflecting on all the great things in our life, I want to take a moment to give a virtual shoutout to our families for their never-ending love and support and to our close, special friends that help make life and all its craziness is just a little more bearable.

NOLA

I had a fabulous weekend getting to visit with some of the best friends a girl could ask for. We probably drank too much and we definitely ate too much but it was well wroth it.

Lee and Rebecca are great hostesses and I'll definitely be heading back to NOLA (I have yet to see the zoo or the art museum) and I might just take Rick.

Video On Demand (a Zach Fuism)

I walked away for 10 minutes and somehow the boys managed to navigate to the Video On Demand menu on the TV. Even more impressive is that they found a "Sports Movie" category. We started flipping through the options and watching previews. Eventually we landed on King Pin (I promise we didn't watch the preview) but as you may know the VOD menu shows an image of the movie. I tried to find the image online to post but we will just have to go with words on this one. The poster shows a min-dress clad woman with Woody Harrelson and Dennis Quaid on either side of her and I am sure there is a bowling ball in the photo somewhere. So the image appears and Rick starts professing his love for the movie at which point Zach jumps up and yells: "NO MORE FREAKING CHICK FLICKS!"

The poster is fairly innocuous, which leads me to believe that Zach was reacting to Rick's commentary, which then leads me to believe that while I am gone Rick is making Zach watch a lot of chick flicks.

lucky

I have to admit that I pretty damn lucky. I have a great husband who hasn't batted an eyelash about me leaving for three days to spend some quality time with Lexi in NOLA . And I have two super, fabulous friends who are letting Lexi and I crash at their house and promise to keep us entertained and filled with coffee.

And I can't forget Chandra who spotted me the perfect little suitcase and readily agreed to check in on my boys and ensure that they are ok or that they have at least changed their underwear.

Hopefully I will get a few good shots of Lexi's and my adventures this weekend.  It could get crazy as the top things on our to do list include: eating lots of pastries, sleeping in, going to stores that we typically pass by because we have boys with us, and drinking NOLA out of coffee while sitting in Lee's and Rebecca's backyard.

window markers

I saw window markers at Target and thought the boys may like to do some holiday decorating on the back door. The markers have been a hit but I don't have any holiday drawings; instead I have Zachy writing his own Star Wars Saga that includes Dad Vadar, Jedi Zach, and Jedi Master JT.

What Cute Looks Like

Trick or Treat

We had what JT describes as "the best Halloween ever" mainly because we hung with the Laynes and got to introduce Lauren to candy (no photographic evidence in case her parents come after me).



Words of wisdom from Halloween 2009 - "It is really fun to have a cape!" I am considering wearing a cape to work tomorrow.

Pumpkins!

Let the Wild Rumpus Begin

This past weekend a special treat came to Austin - Lauren. We were so excited to have her come and visit us. We kicked off a very busy but fun weekend with JT's Book Parade at school. The idea is that each kid pick a character from a book, dress like that character, and then parade around the school. JT was very excited to have Gavin come visit him at school. I think Gavin on the other hand was overwhelmed by 1st grade.

I have to admit I am please with my Max costume creation. I tried to talk JT out of Max but he was stuck on the idea and we made it work. It is also great that JT and Zach now think I am some sort of magic seamstress because I was able to pull this one off.

Zach's Fall Festival

Here are a few shots from Zach's fall festival. He opted to wear a different costume from his Halloween one because Ms. Sandy kept talking the possibility of costumes getting ruined. Zach had a great time but was too anxious for his cousin's arrival and asked to leave after the festival was over.

seven

Sad but I didn't take many photos from JT's birthday this weekend. Here is a quick recap of the events. First it started on Friday with the delivery of Burger King at lunch (Rick, Zach, and I stayed and chatted it up with the 1st graders at lunch) and then some eyeball cupcakes for his class. Saturday started with a baseball game. We got home just in time to clean up our mess from the morning before Malik and William came over. We took the boys out to dinner at JT's favorite joint - Pluckers. We then came home for cake and the boys settled in to watch spooky movies. They dined on a bucket of popcorn (something JT has been asking for ever since the Popcorn Factory catalog started showing up) and things got a little crazy when they decided to mix Fanta Orange soda with Strawberry soda and Rootbeer.
Sad but true - the boys were out by 10:30 and slept in until 7:30. JT claims that they woke up in the middle of the night and goofed around but I am not sure I am buying that one. Even more sad is that Rick and I were on the same sleep schedule.

Sunday morning included a special donut delivery from Izzy, who I think realized a boy slumber party is not something she wants to experience.

JT ended his birthday weekend with a trip to Target where he purchased the coveted Nintendo DS that he had been saving money to purchase. He requested donations from all his grandparents and lucky for him he has some generous grandparents that helped make the purchase possible.




My one piece of birthday advice is to never have your friend, who can make really cool cakes (you may recall the bleeding spider cake from a few years back) make a cool cake because you have to listen to your child question your cake making abilities as compared to your friend's.

The good news is that after several lavish events, JT said that he thinks he may like the smaller party better. I hope so because I am certain my big birthday bash days are over (sorry Zach).

my baby

As I write Joseph Turner is 40 minutes away from turning 7. Of course he is sound a sleep, no doubt dreaming of baseball or the DS he hopes to acquire with his birthday loot. I am not sure I am coping well with 7. I already shed a few tears when I had to move out the young boys section to find a pair of size 8 jeans. I want my baby to stay little and never leave but there is also that part of me that is so excited to continue to watch him grow and turn in to the fabulous young man that he is becoming.

I have no idea where 7 years have gone. My memory typically fails me but I remember every minute of JT being born, I remember Rick and I begging the hospital to let us go home because all we wanted to do was sit at home and stare at this new little bundle.

JT is a great kid and we probably don't give him enough credit. He has a great sense of humor, he is forever curious, he is always willing to try something at least once, he is compassionate, he is always planning or organizing, and for every time he beats up on his brother there are at least 5 more times he is helping Zach, encouraging Zach, or just loving on Zachy. There are about a million more fabulous things to say about that little bundle who has grown up way too fast.

JT requested a low key birthday with two friends, dinner at his favorite restaurant, and then a night of spooky movies. Oh and some carrot cake. I'll get a few photos and post them later this weekend.

Hopefully tonight he will sneak in to our bed to cuddle because I know soon he won't want to do that anymore.

eyeball

art

To some of you this may seem like an obvious progression but others may need to sit down when I announce that Zachy's Star Wars obsession has transitioned into the world of artwork. He is constantly grabbing paper and drawing a Jedi battle. He is also making great leaps with his writing. He has mastered his name as well as: Mom, Dad, Izzy, and From. He has recently started hanging up his artwork around the house.

Of course, JT is always creating something and he made this cat in school the other day and thought Albert would like the inspiration when he goes in to his cat room.

October

I love October. I'd marry it if Rick wasn't standing in my way. I wait eagerly for this month to arrive; I dream about October all during the hot Texas summer. But like any good Pablo Neruda poem, with great love also comes hate. With the beginning of my favorite month, comes an onslaught of activities and before I am done pilfering all the good Halloween candy we are setting up the Christmas tree. Maybe it just seems extra busy because we are finally able to get outdoors without melting.

I promise to get some better blog news up soon but for those of you who feel incomplete, here is a quick rundown of all things Lucas.

The boys
As is my super planner, crazy mom ways, I made both boys lock in on their Halloween costumes early. Honestly Zach found his in August while looking at a catalog at Nana Jujus. JT took a little more time and several secret meetings (Rick bans Halloween talk prior to the month of October and it was still September when we were researching). Needless to say, both boys are smitten with their costumes. I had to make some minor modifications to JT's but it is pretty cool. You'll have to wait a few more weeks for the final reveal. I had to hide Zachy's because he tried wearing it everyday.

JT News

• His 7th birthday coming up. After much discussion and a bit of emotion he has opted for a small affair and two special friends.
• He got his first 1st grade report card and is doing a fabulous job in school - we are very proud of him.
• Fall ball is almost over and going well - this fall season has been very low key but JT has made the transition to coach pitch and still loves the game.

Zachy News

• Hard to believe but he is still addicted to Star Wars
• He has officially started working on riding his bike without training wheels; he isn't completely riding yet but if we can get a day when Zachy is in the perfect mood he will take off. He has done it a few times but likes to be stubborn about it and makes himself fall once we all start cheering for his success.
• He has developed a small obsession with CandyLand. I've heard Rick complain about Zach's techniques so I decided to try my hand at a round with Zachy (and Mama Horsey). Zach started the game by dividing out all the "good" cards (the double-color and special moves) and asking me to keep those cards on the top of pile. He quickly agreed to let me shuffle them in to the rest of the deck.
• He continues to whistle at all hours of the day especially late at night when he should be sleeping.

Both boys are eager for LJ's visit in a few weeks. They really want to dress her as Yoda for Halloween.

I don't have anything nearly as exciting going on as the boys. I am slowly starting to get back into running with little to no pain. I've also started a few sewing projects but I am on a brief hiatus as a friend needed to borrow my machine to try her hand at making a Little Red Riding Hood costume. I have a weekend in NOLA with my kindred spirit but not until November and that seems far away right now.

If for some reason anyone wants to know about Rick or his booger picking addiction, you can just click on his blog (look to the right and click Trophy Husband).

Happy October everyone. I hope you are enjoying it as much as I am.

batting

One of the mom's on the team has been busy taking some stellar photos of the boys including the one of JT above.

Here is her link but be warned, she has taken over 600 photos in just two games so you have to be a diehard to want to spend your time combing through all of those photos. There are some cute ones of JT (he is number 1).

http://www.deannepuckett.com/mygallery/index.php?cat=4

out blogged

Apparently this is the hot new blog in town

http://www.trophyhusbandconfessions.blogspot.com/

I doubt it will ever be as good as this blog but go ahead and bookmark it.

fall ball

Big surprise here but fall baseball has officially started. The difference this season is that we have graduated to coach pitch. We are also on a new team and without most of our t-ball buddies as many of them are trying football a sport that I am not sure I am ready to let the boys try. I miss my baseball mom friends (it is hard being the new mom on the team) and I know Zach misses his buddy Griffin (who is busy watching his brother play in a different league this season).

We (especially JT) are having fun and the best part is that Rick isn't the head coach so I am not team mom although I did volunteer to coordinate the snack schedule. I just never learn.

my new bad habit

I have been rearranging/obsessing over the bookshelves in the front room, which is known as my "office." Secretly I know that this obsession is only because I can't decide which of the 50 half-started crafts I should finish or which of the 150 new crafts I want to start, I should start.

Anywho, I spend a lot of time staring at the bookshelves and often I find at least one coffee cup left from a previous staring contests with the books. I have yet to be desperate enough to take a swig of the left-over surprise; hopefully that day will never arrive.

sometimes i mess up

When we learned that Zach's preschool was closing down, we did some research to see what our options were in town but after paying just $100 a month it was hard to justify paying $300 for two-day a week preschool.

I admit I had some reservations about leaving Zach at home all day; mainly I was concerned that he and Rick would tire of each other. But after much thought I came to terms with the idea until I was talking to a friend and she mentioned how much she loved the preschool they used (at a church they don't attend), which oddly enough I stare at every day from my (home) office window. And if that wasn't kismet enough, it turned out that the director of the program is a mom from our All-Stars team. I name dropped, I pulled a few strings (okay, I emailed and they had 1 opening left for Zachy).

So here is Zach on his first day and school. He was and is super excited about going to school. And I guess I was wrong about him being okay with no preschool. I have to admit that as much as I loved our former school, this one does seem pretty neat and they definitely run things almost exactly like JT's kinder class was, which I think will help Zach get ready for next year.

Here he is in class. He asked that we not walk him to his room (like JT) but this school requires us to sign him in and out. Check out the cool butterfly tights on the girl behind Zach.

And this is what we saw when we came to pick Zachy up. I give him credit, he is honest and why set great expectations for learning about Jedis or the Healthcare Crisis when there is a good chance that isn't what the teacher has planned.

And on a final Zachy note (if you've made it this far), Zach had his 4 year checkup. He weighs in at a slight 54 lbs and his height is 44". He is in the 95% for his age and we were told that basically he is the size of most 6 year olds.

Fu Nuggets

With JT back in school Rick and I get the honor of learning some good information from Zach. Here are two of my most favorite from the past week.

Fu Nugget #1 - Rick and Zachy are playing Legos and Rick.
Rick: These are some cool ships that you built.
Zach Fu: Yeah, I know.
Rick: You are good at building ships.
Zach Fu: I am good at building ships because I am genius.

Fu Nugget #2 - Zachy is just talking away while I am cleaning the kitchen.
Zach Fu: Mom, did you know that old people forget things.
Me: Well you don't have to be old to forget things. I forget things all the time.
Zach Fu: No mama old people forget things. They are oldtimers.
Me: Oldtimers?
Zach Fu: Old people get oldtimers.
Me: Do you mean Alzheimer's?
Zach Fu: That is what I said, old timers!

take a moment and be jealous

Today: Partly Cloudy - High: 102
Partly sunny skies will help push temperatures over 100 this afternoon. It will be our 67 day of 100+ degree temperatures this year. A cold front drifting south out of north Texas will be the focus for a 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms.

I also heard that there is chance that next week's temperatures will hover in the low 90's and I stopped to wonder if I should break out my sweaters yet.

first

I am not sure what is harder to believe: that the summer is over or that JT is in first grade.
Our first day of first went off with little fanfare. JT is excited about his teacher and class mainly because Mrs. Ramirez has a snake in her room. His best buddy William is in a different class but JT said he was okay with that because he knows that they can meet up on the playground.

Zachy's school closed in the spring and we didn't find a new school. Zachy is going to start some golf lessons and we are looking in to music classes to help keep him busy.

dollhouse

During our visit, I spent time with Nana in the basement going through some boxes of my old stuff. One of the boxes had my Fischer-Price dollhouse. Zachy wanted to see the dollhouse so we set it up for him. Once it was up, he spent hours in the basement playing with "his" dollhouse. He made a few adjustments to the layout that Nana and I weren't too sure about including the addition of some horse (one was named Gusto) to the living space.

The Coolest People in Muncie

We were sad to leave Nana Juju's and Grandpa Pete's house but we figured we had imposed on our dog and cat caretakers a little too long and there is that pesky little thing callled school starting this week that JT needed to be home for.
Unlike our ride out we decided we'd do three days of straight driving but we couldn't miss a chance to stop in Muncie, Indiana to visit our old grad school buddies Todd and Jackie and their boys. We had a fabulous visit, although it was a bit short, and hope that we can get together again soon.

Buffalo

What would a trip to NY be without a few days in Buffalo? Having spent many of my childhood summers in Buffalo, I was excited for the boys to see and experience some of the things that I had has a child.
Two days was too short but we are thankful that we were able to spend the time with Paula and Ed. Of course, the boys loved being at Paula's house with all the animals especially her horse Melody Ellen. Zachy has taken to renaming Mama Horsey (note that Paula is the one that originally sent Mama Horsey as a gift) Melody Ellen.
I took over a hundred photos of our few days, many are of the boys on the horse but I won't bore you all with those. I've picked a few of my favorites.

Serendipity

About a month prior to our vacation, Michelle and I had one of those rare special moments where we got to talk on the phone for more than 10 minutes without any sort of interruption. After catching up on recent family activities we discussed our vacation plans and learned that our paths were going to cross in the lovely state of NY. The Nguyens were heading back to Minnesota after a week long vacation in Boston at the same time that we were in Oswego. Since they were planning on going to Niagara Falls on their way home, Oswego was a perfect resting point.
Our visit was brief and included a trip to the Urgent Care after Owen broke his collar bone but we enjoyed every minute and were thankful that we got to hang out. Hopefully the Nguyens will be back in Texas soon.

Corning Glass Museum

Our first venture out of Oswego was to the Corning Glass Museum. We weren't allowed to take photos at the Corning Glass Museum which is sad because they had some of the most amazing pieces of glass artwork that I've ever seen. The museum is huge and we didn't even get to see half of their exhibit. Truly amazing was the special exhibit, the Heineman Collection, which was a private collection of a Chicago couple. I think we got up to the Early European glass in our tour of the History of Glass before we had to break for lunch and then go to the boy's class.
The museum offers several classes including glass blowing. The boys took a sandblasting class because it allowed them to take their item home that same day.

OSWEGO

We made it to Oswego. We were so excited to finally be at Nana Juju's and Grandpa Pete's house. The boys were even more excited to see their first Great Lake. We spent our first day and several evenings after at a local restaurant and ice cream stand that sits on the lake.

Here are a few shots of the boys first day seeing the waves and the boys out on the boat with grandpa Pete.

Dayton, Ohio Part 2

Before we made it to the Dayton Dragons game we spent the day at the National Museum of the US Airforce. I have to admit that I was hoping to skip this visit but I am glad we went. The museum has the history of the airplane and an incredible collection of original airplanes that they have restored. I also admit that I got a bit obsessed while at the museum with nose art.

If you find yourself in Dayton, I recommend the museum but definitely give yourself some time and be prepared to explain the Holocaust to your 6 year old as they have a fairly moving collection of photos.

Dayton, Ohio

Our first stop enroute to NY was Dayton. Why Dayton you say? Well, because Rick and JT decided that life couldn't go on if they didn't see the Dayton Dragons play.
We had a great time at the game. They have a cool stadium and some good music/entertainment on the jumbo-tron but the crowd wasn't very involved. One of the coolest things they had were their dragons on the scoreboard. When the DD hit a homerun they blow a foghorn and then the dragon's eyes light up and smoke comes out of his nose.
Both boys also got balls at the game. JT got the first foul ball that was hit our direction and then later when another was hit the boys were two of many asking the bullpen for the ball but when the players didn't pass it back everyone but Zachy and JT left at which point Zachy said "Can I please have that ball?" How could they say no?
Another highlight was the Retired Village People that came out inbetween innings to do their moves to YMCA. We rated the ballpark 3rd on our list (behind RR Express and Springfield) but now I am wondering why as it was a fun game.

Non-Vacation Updates

Here are a few important prevacation updates including some Zachy birthday photos and our first missing tooth!