Memories

When I had dreams of becoming a mom, I thought about the memories that I wanted to create with my children. I thought about the good talks we would have, the neat places we would visit together, the shopping trips that Caroline and I would take, where she would love everything that I do, you know like a Disney Land commercial on TV. About a week after we brought Christian home, I realized this isn't Disney Land!!

Example, an email went around a couple of weeks ago and children around the age of 5 were asked, what does love mean??? The answers were thought provoking, tender and amazingly mature for a child of that age. So, I sent out an email to my girlfriends and said let's all ask our boys what love means and share their answers with each other, again trying to believe in the fantasy. When I asked Christian, he made some sort of potty humor statement, which is his go to answer on just about anything these days. If it begins with "poop poop butt", he's all about it.

I have to say, that the reality of my day to day life slaps me in the face more than I would like to admit. However, occasionally a little piece of that fantasy comes to life. Unfortunately, I wasn't home for this one, but it is certainly worth sharing. When Christian and I were in Paris, I bought him an Eiffel Tower for his room, so that he could always remember our trip together. Well, tonight Ms. Botello is babysitting and she noticed the tower statue in his room and when she picked it up she saw a switch on the bottom, turned it on and it lit up just like the real Eiffel Tower in Paris. We could see the Tower shining brightly each night from Peggy's balcony and Christian loved it. When she flipped the switch tonight it lit up his whole room and he said, "now, I will always remember Paris."

I tell you, that boy takes me to the highest high's and the lowest low's, but I can't remember any low's right now, only that I adore his charm and loveable personality. I can't wait to make more memories with him!!

Miss you, Peggy, Jaylee, Aiden and Brandon!!

Willy the Dog

Many of you have inquired lately about Willy, the dog. Well, we had to return Willy to Santa because he is scared to death of our kids. The only time he would go anywhere near C & C is if they had a treat for him. If they approached him he would run the other way. He took to hiding behind the couch and any other place that they couldn't get to . The final straw was when he starting hiding behind the dryer!!! Clearly, Willy was unhappy with us and needs to be in a family without children.

Randy returned Willy to the breeder one day while the kids were in school, and we broke the news to the kids. We thought that Caroline would just have a complete breakdown, but we were so wrong. Christian cried and cried and cried. His sorrow came from the gut and just about broke our hearts. He still talks about him every once in a while and we are getting the full court press to get another dog, so we probably will. Caroline never skipped a beat, that just goes to show you that Willy never warmed up to her, because she LOVES doggies. So, if you see the kids, DON'T ASK ABOUT WILLY!!!!

Bonjour

Yes, I know I have broken my New Year's resolution to blog once per week. It's been about 4 weeks, but Christian and I went on a fabulous trip to Paris!!! We have some friends that used to live in Arlington and were transferred with Nestle to Paris, so we cashed in some of Randy's miles and off we went. Sometimes all that traveling he does, comes in handy. I was a little bit worried about taking Christian on a 10 hour flight, but let me just say, he was a ROCK STAR both ways. Honestly, I thought he must have been switched with a calm child during the security check at the airport, because he was THAT good.

I discovered a few things while away.
#1 Christian doesn't speak english, he speaks Texan, with a serious hick accent!!
#2 Disney land is NOT the "happiest place on earth"
#3 French wine is REALLY good, but only a second runner up to french bread and french butter with sea salt!!!
#4 I love going out to my garage and getting into my car and driving wherever I want to go
#5 I can survive without my cell phone
#6 Personal space took on a whole new meaning

The family we went to see is the Rice Family. Brandon, Peggy, Jaylee and Aiden



Peggy is awesome, Christian and Jaylee played beautifully together. Roxanne Botello went with us, she was the teacher that Christian and Jaylee had at CU together and we have become good friends.



We toured all the usual hot spots, the eiffel tower, Louvre, Notre Dame, Luxemburg Park, etc... but the absolute best was watching Christian attempt to speak french to various french people. Just image the most country bumpkin accent your've ever heard, add to that wild random moves of a five year old boy and you might come close to getting the picture. All that was missing were the overalls!!!

Everything in France is tiny. The tables, the elevators, the chairs, the apartments, the kitchens, the washers, I mean everything!!! Because the tables are very close together and you must move the table out in order to sit behind it, we had incidents!! I do not think we managed to have one meal without breaking something. Thankfully, Peggy cooked for us several times.

Here is a little glimpse of our trip:

Paris

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