Thoughts....

These were the many thoughts that were going through my mind last night, as I laid in bed ready to fall fast asleep:

*Did I close the garage door after watering the flower beds? ~ Got up and checked. Sure did.

*Did I start the dishwasher? Yes, I did...but did I make sure that the stupid drainy-thingy was turned the right way so that all the water from said dishwasher will flow into the sink, instead of all over my countertops and floor??? ~ Got up and checked. A-Ok.

*Did I put coffee in the coffee maker this time? Instead of just putting water in the compartment and cleaning out the filter, but forgetting to put in the coffee...which made for an interesting morning the day before when my sweet hubs went to make it and only got hot, not so clear, water in his coffee cup. Sorry honey! ~ Oh I better get up and check...ok good. I did remember this time.

*Did I lock the door to the garage after checking to see if garage door was open? Pretty sure I did. Better go and check. Yep.

*Did I put the wet clothes in the dryer? Pretty sure I did NOT. Got up and put wet clothes into dryer. (wondering why I didn't check that when I went to lock the garage door)

*Did I pull out Maggie's clothes for tomorrow? Well, she's asleep so I won't go in and check. If I didn't, then I can just pick out one of the red polo shirts, khaki pants or shorts, underwear and white socks and be on our way.

*But wait, did I go and turn off Maggie's light? Why didn't I check that when I went to the garage and/or when I put the clothes in the dryer?

*I gave Maggie her medicine tonight, didn't I? Yes, I did. I mean, I'm pretty sure that I did. Yes, I did.

*Did I turn the A/C down already? I feel a little warm. It's 11pm and it's usually cold in here by now. But now, I've gotten up 3 times and each time I've walked by the thermostat and it never occurred to me to check the temp. Ugh. Oh well. Will suffer it out (until I wake up in the middle of the night sweating from not turning down the A/C)

*Did I brush my teeth? I know that I took out my contacts but I did that as soon as I got home, so I know I didn't brush my teeth then...and now that I run my tongue over my teeth, I'm fairly certain I did not brush my teeth.

*What will I have for lunch tomorrow? I don't think that I have anything to bring to work tomorrow. Might just have to eat something out.

*What day is it? Ok, it was Wednesday. How do I know that? Because we were able to come straight home from school, instead of stopping off at one of Maggie's therapy sessions. So, tomorrow is Thursday.

*Thursday! Which means the return of Grey's Anatomy & Private Practice ~ man, I sure am glad to have my TV shows back.

*Thursday...I must remember to tell Maggie's play therapist of the challenges she's had this week ~ especially with the temper tantrums.

*Why is she having the tantrums again? What is triggering them? How can we help her? What are we doing differently/wrong? Why can't we just have a calm/easy day? Not going to happen. Not right now anyway.

*She's coughing. Wait. Do I need to get up and give her some cough medicine or is it just a momentary thing? No more coughing. No medicine given.

*Wonder when we will be able to get rid of that monitor? I mean, I'm used to it but sure would be nice to not have to hear MOMMA/DADDY screamed at us at 6am on a Saturday morning.

*Wonder when/if Maggie will ever just lay in her bed and relax, read a book, play with her dolls/stuffed animals and NOT have to be immediately out of her room at the break of dawn?

*Sure would like to be able to sleep in some day. Just one day. Just for an extra hour. Don't see this happening any time soon.

*Sleeping in...hmmm...maybe I should just start by going to sleep first.

*11:32pm....man, 5:10am is going to be here before I know it. Close your eyes, Court. Good night.

Bouncin' Bears

Joc had told me about this new bouncing place that recently opened near Tomball, so we decided to venture out and try it. She showed up with her 4 kiddos under 3 and I showed up with my 4 under 8. Yep...that's right....2 mommas/aunt and 8 kids under the age of 8.

Total chaos. Total fun.

We were the only ones there for a while - which was great. The kids just went in all directions and we (J&I) followed and marveled in the smiles and laughter heard through the place.

The place did get busy as birthday parties arrived throughout the day. J and kids stayed for about an hour and a half, but I was watching the girls ALL day, so my goal was to stay there as long as possible. The girls bounced, played, jumped, and climbed for 3 1/2 hours. I couldn't believe it. I even ventured out into some of the bounce houses and slid down some slides. (We won't talk about how sore I was the next day though, ok.)

3 of Joc's kiddos having a blast - Adrian, Riyah & Tiger

How adorable is Riyah?

weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!!!!!

Such a big girl

Sweet Kiki

All the kiddos bouncing on the floor pillow

Isabela

I just love the smile on her face :)

This is so sweet.  See the love for Kiki in Maggie's face?

All by myself, Momma!

Maya looks terrified here!

Snack time ~ what a group :)

I asked Isabela to look at me and smile...Tiger turned super fast and flashed this cheesy grin. Gotta love it!

Maya

Maggie sledding!

Gabriela having a blast

Maya

Double sledding

Pure joy!

Smilin' Maya

Maggie with her buddy, Adrian.

We had such a great time playing with our cousins and friends!  Best $5 spent for sure!

3 1/2 hours later, we returned to our house for lunch and nap time.  I put in a movie and this is what I had for the next 2 hours!

Ahhhhhh.....heaven!  Some peace and quiet. 2 whole hours, I tell ya!  Momma/CC like :)

Thankfully the weather was a bit overcast and not squelching hot outside, so we spent the remainder of our time outside and played some more.  Those 4 girls love, love, love the sandbox.  I love how Gabriela, at the age of 8, still loves to play outside in the sand with her sisters and cousin.

It was a full day of fun and I crashed as soon as the girls left. Man, I'm too old for all this activity! ;)

Cousin Time

The girls have been begging to come over and play with Maggie, so when Ashley & Ed had an event at church, they came to spend the evening with us. It was complete mayham. Oh how Maggie adores her cousins and they adore her. They love to play and Maggie has plenty to entertain them with :) Here are a few pictures from the evening.

Gabriela with Buddy

Isabela

Maya

Maya with Buddy

Maggie enjoying her play meal

Isabela & Maggie playing "Restaurant"

Lots of play time in the kitchen

Many hands into many things

Maggie just glows when the girls come over to play. Oh how she loves her cousins. I am so thankful that Maggie has Gabriela, Isabela & Maya near by and can grow up and play with them. I'm also thankful that the girls immediately loved and accepted Maggie from the moment they met her.  Very thankful. Very blessed.

Oh she's a smart one :)

I had just picked Maggie up from school, so I called Michael to let him know we were on our way home. Maggie says ever so sweetly, "Momma, I talk to Daddy. I tell him hi?" So, I passed the phone back to her with the speaker on...and this is what was heard:

"Daddy, can Momma take me to the icecream place?"

What?!  Oh no she did not just do that. We hadn't even talked about icecream (which is actually frozen yogurt but she doesn't get that).

Michael laughed and said "sure, you can have some icecream."

Maggie: "Really?! Ohhhh Momma, Daddy said you have to take me to the icecream place. (of course, I'm laughing). Thanks, Daddy!  Oh, and Daddy?  Hi!"

That is one smart & funny girl!

So, off we went to the icecream place ~ @5pm...I'm pretty sure that this healthy snack played no part in why she didn't want to eat any dinner or couldn't fall asleep before 10pm last night.  Nope. Not at all.

Oh....Daddy.......

Fall Festival

Fall Festival....already?!  When I first read the flier from school, I thought "surely they mean October 13th, not September 13th"....but no, I was wrong.  Maggie's school fall festival was yesterday ~ on a school night in September when it was still 100 degress outside. Lovely.  Not.

However, kids don't seem to mind the heat, especially when you can go down water slides and slip-n-slides and get all wet.  Kids were having a blast. The parents didn't look quite as thrilled.  But the joy on Maggie's face as she experienced it all, was so worth it.  She had a great time, checking out all the little events from fishing for bracelets, to a bean bag toss, to face painting, to slip-n-sliding, to splatter painting, to bowling, to designing her own princess crown.

I wish I could've gotten video of Maggie on the slip-n-slide inflatable. Hilarious.  She was just flying through the thing. All the kids were laughing at her because she never fell - she was literally running through it all. The other kids tried without success and she was the talk of the event :)

After we enjoyed the games, we of course, had to partake in the goodies ~ candy, cotton candy, sno-cones, and cupcakes...just to name a few of the many horribly wonderful food items available for purchase (oh yeah - this event wasn't free...while I feel that we give MORE than enough support to the school, I guess this just provided even more support) :)

Face painting and laffy taffy ~

 Gotta love those sno-cones!

These pictures don't give these cupcakes justice. They were enormous....about the size of my hand.

 Can we say sugar high?!?!

At one point, she just laid down on the table and started eating it. 

She was so proud of her crown ~ completely created all by herself

Although it was hotter than hades, she had a blast. And after all, isn't that all that matters?