The Normal Nolens

A Catch Up Post!

2009-06-16T21:20:00.002-05:00

Sorry! I haven't made many posts lately, but I have been taking lots of pictures, so check back soon to see some of our fun activities. In the meantime, here is what has been going on:

*Superman had an end-of-the-year program at his preschool, and he even had a speaking part. It is so cute to hear him singing these songs as we drive down the road!

*Princess had a dance recital where she was in three dances. She has danced for four years now and wants to keep dancing forever!

*Dinky went to Africa for 18 days! The kids and I survived okay, but it sure is nice to have him home!

*Princess was recommended by her teacher to be tested for the Gifted and Talented program at school. Princess did a super job and qualified for the program. Way to go!

*Superman has started his reading class and can now read short books with simple sight words entirely on his own.

*Princess and Superman have both been involved in swimming lessons and can swim the width of a backyard pool now. This time last year, they were afraid of the water, so it is such fun to watch them go down the slide or dive off the side and then just start swimming as soon as they pop back up.

As you can tell, we have been busy. I will try to do better at keeping you more up-to-date.

Meet Mary

2009-05-09T16:26:00.004-05:00

Mary works at a little hole-in-the-wall salon called "Hair We R". So we went there to have a little hair cut.

She was the chosen one to give Princess a little bit of a trim.

For Locks of Love that is! That is correct, Princess has decided to donate all of that extra hair to a little girl who doesn't have any.

Here goes the hair! I think that Mary was more scared than I was! Princess was as happy as she could be!

This is right after the initial ponytails were cut off.

Princess is donating two ponytails of 12 inches of hair each!

BEFORE: (leaving the house for the salon)

AFTER: (coming home after the cut)

I think that it is gorgeous! Princess loves it and has been swinging her head back and forth ever since the haircut. She will definitely be cooler this summer.

Don't be mad at me! It was all her idea!

Spring Break Fun!

2009-03-22T21:57:00.004-06:00

Big plans were made for Spring Break! The kids and I would drive out to Grammy & Poppy's house by ourselves, then Dinky would fly out on Wednesday after he got off work. We were leaving on Friday night, driving to Abilene, staying in a hotel, and then visiting the museum before heading the rest of the way to visit. That was the plan before the cold front and the temperature in the 30s and 40s! So, being the ever flexible mother that I am, I drove in the rain to Abilene, stayed in a luxurious hotel, and found something else to do to take the place of the zoo. Here is what I found:

OK! Seriously! How cool is this? Princess thought that it was named after her! This is an art museum, history of Abilene museum, and a children's museum all housed in the old Grace Hotel in downtown Abilene. One price for admission and we got to enjoy all three museums!

We got there a little early but the kiddos had a great time peeking in these huge glass plate windows. They could see things inside the art museum and they were so excited about going in!

This is an art sculpture called "Grace Notes." When the kids pressed on the colored squares, it made different sounds and music notes. It was very cool, and I played with it quite a bit, too!

Look at how big it is!

The art museum was hosting some art that was made by the children in the schools in and around Abilene. Superman wants pizza and cheetos at every meal, and Princess loves chocolate, so I caught them staring at these fake replicas. That was a one-in-a-million shot!

The Children's Musuem was awesome! It was small, but there were so many interesting things to see and do there. I can't even list them all here, but if you want to see some more of my pictures, just let me know. We might need to plan a road trip!

This is a tornado maker. There was a button to push and then air come out to push this smoke into a funnel formation. The kids could touch it and everything. They really enjoyed trying to figure out how it worked! I can see Princess going to the library to check out a book on tornadoes to figure it out.

They had a "Movin' and Groovin' Room." Essentially, you stodd in front of the screen and every movement that you made was put up in these moving colors on the screen. This was Princess's favorite place and she stayed in there a long time, and she kept going back. She was sweating when we left! Isn't it cool how you can actually see her dance moves in the picture? I also got one that I stage of the kids pretending to kiss. It is too cute!

No matter where we go, Superman's favorite spot always involves blocks of some sort. I must get that child some Legos so that I can see what he will build!

Once we got to Grammy and Poppy's, Superman decided that he would help clean up the yard. There is a huge Sycamore tree in the back yard that drops the seed balls all over the place, and Poppy mentioned something about needing to pick them up before he mowed again because they just broke up and made the lawn mower and bag all sticky and icky. After he had picked up several of the balls, I told Superman that they were called Sycamore balls, and he got a serious look on his face and asked if they would make him sick. I just laughed at him and explained that the Sycamore was the name of the tree. He didn't seem to care!

This is the bucket of Sycamore balls after Superman had finished. He was very proud of his work and didn't want to just throw them away. He asked for a bigger bucket or box to put them in to keep, so Poppy suggested the dumpster in the alley. That didn't fool Superman one bit, but he wasn't going to argue with Poppy!

Anyhow, that is just a little bit of what we did. It was a busy, refreshing week, but we head back to work and school tomorrow. We are already planning some escapades for this summer, so be on the look out for some of our plans! We are going to make it to a zoo!

Superman is so creative!

2009-02-14T19:09:00.002-06:00

I am seriously going to have to question every word that comes out his mouth! He can come up with stories on the spur of the moment, and they are so funny. Here is an example:

On Wednesday night he and I were driving down the road to get to the church. It was just us as Daddy and Princess have to meet us there. We came to a new bank that had just opened or that was about to open, and they had a hot air balloon being inflated behind the bank.

Mommy: "Superman, look at that hot-air balloon behind the bank! I wonder why they have a hot-air balloon?"

Superman: "They are escaping!"

Mommy: "Escaping? What do you mean that they are escaping?"

Superman: "They stoled all the money, and they got to get out of there!"

I couldn't help must laugh because he was so animated telling his little story. I didn't have the heart to tell him that no one could quickly "escape" in a hot-air balloon. His little story has kept me laughing for days. Have your children every said something that brightened your life for days?

Daddy-Daughter Dance

2009-02-09T22:05:00.002-06:00

????Why is this typing in underlined print, and how do I turn it off?????

Dinky took Princess to the Daddy-Daughter Dance at the Children's Museum on Saturday night. She came home with a photo cube that she had made, a t-shirt, a bracelet, and some lotion. The picture below is not the greatest because I am really no good at taking pictures. They got some prom-style photos taken while they were there and when we get those, maybe I will post one. Princess said that she spent most of her time playing in the rocket, and not dancing. I told her that next year, we would not be spending that kind of money on the cost of the event, a dress, and shoes just for her to play in the rocket. We can do that anytime for much cheaper! Oh, well! Everyone had a good time at least!

P.S.--While they were enjoying the Daddy-Daughter Dance, I thought that Superman and I would go have Mommy-Son night. So, we went to eat at CiCi's Pizza and then came home to play games on the Wii. Not my idea of a "great date" but it is what he wanted! We had fun together!

AWANA Grand Prix--We have a winner!

2009-02-07T20:18:00.003-06:00

Today was our church's Grand Prix races. All the boys and girls in Sparks and T & T can build and decorate a block car from a kit, then they are raced against each other. There were 41 cars entered this year, andthe kids were placed into three separate brackets. Princess has been excited about this for weeks, and finally the day has arrived. Here is the report on the action:

This is the "Butterfly Crown Car" which was 100% designed by Princess with some help from Mom & Dad with painting, hot glueing, and assembly. It is supposed to look like the front butterfly is driving the car and that the other butterflies are riding along. The one on the back is chasing after the car to catch a ride because she was late. How creative is that?

The car looks pretty good considering the drama that caused both me and Princess to be in tears over it just a few short hours before we had to be at the official weigh in. I took it to school with me to spray it with laquer because any good crown needs to be shiny. I left it outside on a sidewalk so that it would dry before school got out and Princess would have plenty of time to put on the jewels, butterflies, and wheels. Well, one of our second graders grabbed it on the way out to recess, and he/she decided to dig in the garden with it. By the time that I found it in a tire in the recently watered (read as muddy) garden, part of the end was broken off in two places, and it was covered in dirt which was permanently stuck to it because the paint was still tacky! Thankfully, my wonderful assistant and my student teacher could see how distraught that I was, and they cleaned it up as best as they could. With a fresh coat of paint and some jewels and butterflies, it looks as good as new, and Princess is very happy with how it turned out. We have decided not to be angry at whoever chose to take something that didn't belong to them, and we have used this as a lesson in life on how to treat things that do not belong to us. I guess that God needed us to have a refresher course in that!

This is the car in the actual race. As you can see, the Butterfly Crown Car is well behind the other racer, but we really didn't expect it to run at all. Two of the wheels barely turned, and as one boy put it, "Those butterflies are going to catch some wind!"

This is where the car stopped on the track. Right in front of us as if to say, "There's my Princess! Pick me up!" The poor thing didn't even make it to the finish line!

Princess is soooo excited! Her car won 2nd place for Most Creative Design! She is telling everyone she sees about her first ever trophy that she has ever received. She even wants to sleep with it tonight, and I think that I will let her.

This is Princess and her friend A. A's car got 3rd place for speed. Way to go, Girlies!

We had a fun morning. We might even consider doing this again when the Grand Prix comes up next year. But, then we will have two cars to design and make! Superman can't wait!

WOW! I haven't posted in a year!

2009-02-04T16:25:00.004-06:00

HI! I just thought that I would let you all know that we are still alive! Superman has been Mr. Mystery Fever for the past 5 days, but it looks like we will all be able to return to work and school tomorrow. We had a busy Christmas time, and the kids especially enjoyed seeing all of their cousins and family members that live way far away. I have put a couple of pictures below (they loaded in the backwards order that I wanted them), and that will sum up Christmas for you. I hope to get back to being a little more regular with the blogging! Have a happy day!

Santa brought a Wii for all us! If you don't have one, then you should ask Santa for one next year. We have great amounts of fun and even gotten a little bit of exercise when using it. Of course, now we have something else to help us waste our time. If you want to come over and play, just let me know!

Taking a snack for Santa. They set it out so carefully by the fireplace. Santa got four cookies--one in each color that they had decorated, and a cup of milk. We also put a few carrots out for him to give to the reindeer. In the morning, everything was gone! How do you like their matching pajamas? It is hard to find boy/girl sets of matchy things.

This is Superman opening his new guitar from Aunt C and Uncle A. He loves it! Now, he and Princess have their own band because he will play his guitar and she will play her keyboard. It sounds "lovely" but I can't help but smile!

This is Princess opening her first American Girl doll ever! This was also from Aunt C and Uncle A. The doll is named Elizabeth (which is Princess's middle name) and she has long, blond, curly hair like Princess's. She loves this doll! I see a trip to the American Girl store coming on this summer!

My gorgeous, beautiful, awesome children posing for the obligatory Christmas picture. Aren't they adorable!

I was tagged...so here it is!

2008-12-31T20:01:00.002-06:00

The rules of the "game" is that you go to where you store your pictures on your computer. Then you get in the 4th folder and upload the 4th picture. No cheating or anything to get a cute picture in there. But I lucked out! How much cuter than this can you get?

This past July we went bowling with our friend W and her three girls. This is Superman getting ready to throw his ball down the lane. Many times, it got half way and then just stopped. One other time, he actually popped it up onto that blue strip between the lanes! The man at the bowling alley was so patient and came it fixed our lane for us many times. W, let's all go again!

In fairness, I also put picture 5. This is Princess in her bowling attire. She knew how to hold the ball correctly and I think that her score was even higher than mine!

Now, I guess this is where I tag 4 more people. I tag Wendy, April, Becky, and Jamee. Have fun and let me know when you have posted your pictures.

We live where?

2008-12-10T19:52:00.003-06:00

It is like a tornado whisked us away and plopped us down in the north somewhere! Here we are in Central Texas where it is just HOT all year, and we woke up to snow on the ground, and the temperatures have been in the 30s all day long. Even better, it began to snow again at about 3:00 in the afternoon, and it continued for several hours. There is a layer of snow on the ground and children are just rolling in it, walking through it, throwing it, and building snow things with it. There are so many smiles! Thank you, God, for the simple pleasure of some snow! Of course, it will be in the 70s again by this weekend, and everyone will become sick again. But it sure has been a beautiful sight to see, so I guess that it will be worth it.

This is the view from the front doors of the church at about 5:30 p.m.

This is the view from the side door. As a bonus, you get to see the Christian Life Center which is currently being built. If you look closely, you can see the snow falling down. Princess said that it looked like we were in for a blizzard!

The view of the sidewalk of the church.

The kids had never seen snow on the slides before! For once, they did NOT ask to play on the playground before going inside.

Princess wanted you to now that the snow was deep enough to leave drag marks.

This is the bush infront of our house. While it looks like a cotton plant, that is just a facade. This is really a lantana. I hope that it lives through all of this!

The suburban was covered!

Princess and Superman walking with their umbrellas. They thought that that would help keep the snow off of them, but it was blowing pretty good, so they were useless.

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet,

they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

Isaiah 1:18

Happy Birthday, Superman!

2008-11-15T15:59:00.004-06:00

NOTICE: Superman's actual birthday was on November 7th. But, being the best mom in the world, I waited several days to post so that we could draw out the excitement! That is what I am going to tell myself anyway!

Superman turned 5 years old! It is so hard to imagine that by BABY is 5 years old. He will be in kindergarten at this time next year! Let me tell you 5 things about Superman that you may or may not know:
1. He loves anything that has to do with Super Heroes! Superman, Spider Man, Batman, etc. are all super to him!
2. As much as he loves Super Heroes, he loves Transformers even more!
3. He has more stuffed animals than I have owned in my entire life. And, he takes his sister's animals and mine, too.
4. He loves to cuddle!
5. He loves to tell everyone that God loves us and that Jesus died on the cross for our sins. My sweet boy knows what is important in life, and I couldn't be more proud!

Happy Birthday, Superman!

Peaking through his birthday banners. Isn't he handsome?

Birthday Banner decorations! He really liked this special way to celebrate.

Opening his gifts on the morning of his birthday. This is a Transformer from Aunt T, Uncle P, and the girls.

A fireman play set from Grammy and Poppy.

And a watch! He loves it!

My head hurts, Mom!

2008-11-15T08:32:00.002-06:00

Really? You don't say? I say that with humor, but my baby's head really did hurt! Princess and Superman were at Friday Night Out at the church last night, and Dinky and I were at home just getting some housework done (romantic, huh?), when my cell phone started ringing. I said, "That can't be good!" Dinky answered the phone, and sure enough, it was Ms. B, the children's director at church who said that Princess had been running and had fallen down and that there was a lump on her head. Ms. B wanted us to come on up and take a look at it, so we got in the car and headed across town. We weren't too horribly worried, because if you know my Honey Bunny, she is a bit emotional. I was truly expecting a little bit of a carpet burn, but when I saw her, I thought to myself, "You didn't tell me she hit her head hard enough to be growing a second head!" Ms. B said that the kids were playing a game in the sanctuary and were running in the aisles when Princess fell. She was running down one of the slopes and just couldn't stop herself and her head whacked the floor. Apparently, there is not much padding between the carpet and the concrete floor! Princess appeared to be okay except for the lump on her head. She knew her ABCs, she could count, and she knew when her birthday was. So, we picked up Superman and came on home with an ice pack. She is doing much better this morning, but she will have this lump for quite some time. Good thing school pictures are already done!

My 7th Birthday Princess!

2008-09-26T19:43:00.002-05:00

Seven years ago at 7:25 p.m., our very own Princess was born. Our lives are changed forever because of this darling little girl, and we wouldn't have it any other way. In the tradition of my friends, here are 7 interesting facts about my very own 7th Birthday Princess:

1. She wants her hair to be as long as Rapunzel's. Therefore, except for her bangs, it will not be cut until further notice.

2. She eats more chocolate than any other human on earth! That may be a little bit of an exaggeration, but not by much!

3. She LOVES to go to school! She would probably live up there if she could. She is just a sponge soaking all these things into her brain, and then spitting them back out for our benefit.

4. Her favorite colors are pink and purple, but she also likes lime green.

5. She and the girl that she calls her best friend, have known each other since the day that A was born. How is that for a lasting friendship? Of course, it does help that me and A's mom are friends, but I feel sure that these two will be forever friends.

6. She owns at least 15 Barbies, but she tells me that she needs more. And more clothes for them. She sleeps with these Barbies every night, and I constantly wonder how there is any room for her in her full size bed.

7. She wants to be a flower gardener when she grows up. She wants to take care of all the beautiful flowers, plants, and trees that God provided for us.

I decorated the entrance to her room with streamers in her favorite colors minus the lime green. She was so excited! When she opened up her door, she came running to my room to wake me up and said, "Thank you, Momma! I love my streamers!"

Princess opened gifts from Mommy & Daddy, Superman, and from Grammy, Poppy, and Cousin J. This is by far the favorite gift! The newest Barbie movie release is the new most watched movie in our house! Good job Grammy & Poppy!

Princess also celebrated at school by taking Hello Kitty cupcakes up for all of her classmates. Here is her friend M giving her all of the Hello Kitty rings off of the boys' cupcakes. M said that Grace got to keep them all because it was her birthday after all!

We are not having her birthday party for another month, so Princess got to invite two friends out for some pampering. This is a picture of her with J & A while they are soaking their feet for a pedicure. They all had their toenails done complete with a flower on the big toe, and they had their fingernails painted, too. They all really enjoyed this little bit of fun!

*I just noticed that one of my pictures has disappeared! I don't know how to get it back! It was a picture of the kids having chocolate coke cake for breakfast. That doesn't happen very often!

Thankful?!?!

2008-09-15T19:01:00.002-05:00

Well, we survived a hurricane. It wasn't near as bad here in our parts as predicted and for that, I am very thankful. But, I am sure that all those people who lost everything they had except their life, and for those people who are going without electricty or drinkable water, there may not be much to be thankful for. But, Princess and I had a great conversation this morning. Here it is in mid-September when the temperatures have been in the 90s and close to 100 forever, and we woke up to a great fall morning of only 66 degrees. And the high temperature was only 80 degrees. And, it is supposed to stay that way several more days. I told Princess that that was God taking care of his people because now they would not get too hot without any way to cool off. She didn't realize that people didn't have air conditioning if they didn't have electricity, and she said that the sure was nice of God to think of them. So, you see, there is something to be thankful for after all. A God that is bigger than that hurricane and who cares for us beyond words. I pray that you have all found something to be thankful for this week, too.

2.6

2008-09-06T18:30:00.002-05:00

What is in a number? That depends on what it indicates. This number indicates that my sweet baby who is in the first month of first grade (1.1) can read at a grade equivalency of someone in the sixth month of second grade (2.6). I knew that she could read, and that she enjoys reading, but I never really thought about how "good" she was at it. Our school participates in the Accelerated Reader (AR) program, and the test that she took to place into the program is called the STAR test. This STAR test placed her grade equivalency at the 2.6 level, and it recommends that she read books at the 2.4 to 3.4 level in order to have challenging materials to read. I am just floored! And I have already found the first problem with this high of a reading level for a younger child---most princess books are in the 1.9 or below area! I am worried about the content in some of the higher grade level books, so I am really going to have to pay attention to that. But, I am so proud of Princess, and I wanted you to know, too! In fact, many of you may have already found yourself in this position or you will soon. Princess's friends are just as intelligent as she is! Don't say that I didn't warn you!

It has been a month!

2008-09-06T18:17:00.003-05:00

Yes. I realize that it has been a while since I posted. I have thought about it nearly everyday, but I just didn't get it done. Since I am a teacher, my life just got amazingly busier. And, since I am now the Instructional Coach for my campus, I have even more responsibilities. Plus, I just started back to graduate school to complete my internship and finally be certified as an administrator. I have had a Master's Degree for 7 years, but never completed the certification as I was raising these beautiful children through their youngest years. Well, enough of the whining about my busy life, here are some pictures of the kiddos first days of school.

Superman wants "spiky" hair all the time now. If I use enough gel, I can get it to stick up like this for a while. He has a ferocious cowlick right in the front that insists on going down, not up, but he is usually happy with the result.

Here he is ready to get in the car with Daddy to go to school. He had actually been going for two weeks already, but if I was taking a picture of sister, then he was getting a picture taken, too! His doodle monster is his sleeping buddy choice of the day. It changes everyday.

Princess used to have super curly hair, and that is what she wanted for the first day of school. And the second. And the third. She is willing to sleep in rollers every night to achieve this look. Because her hair still has the slight curl to it, when we do roll it, it will last all day long.

Princess walking into school from the parking lot.

This is princess with her teacher, Mrs. Turner. Yes, she is married to the Mr. Turner that some of you know. Let's pray that the election turns out correctly so that Princess doesn't lose her teacher in the middle of the year. We both love Mrs. Turner!

Where there is blue. . .

2008-08-10T15:55:00.003-05:00

. . . there must then be some pink! (Disclaimer: I am sorry if I offend anyone who is only able to paint one of the colors.) Superman LOVES blue, and Princess LOVES pink! So, this weekend, Princess had her turn to paint her bedroom. The color of choice is called Fairytale Pink. It is perfect for her princess bedroom.

When we told her that she could paint whatever she wanted on the wall, she painted out her name. Now, everyone knows her real name, but we will still call her Princess!

Isn't she cute! No, she has not cut her hair, it is simply tucked into her shirt so that it doesn't turn pink. She still wants hair like Rapunzel's.

Painting stripes like Superman did.

Princess loves polka dots, and she wanted us to leave these on the wall, but they have been painted over.

Hard at work! She painted this entire wall as high up as she could reach. She loved being able to paint on her own wall!

Get your tires checked!

2008-08-03T19:58:00.002-05:00

Well, friends, if you have bought tires from Discount Tires in the past two years, you should be aware that there is a recall on the valve stems. They will replace the valve stems for free even if you don't have the paperwork. So, you may be asking how I know this. No, I did not receive paperwork in the mail from Discount Tires as I was informed that they are sending out only 1000 per week and they must not have made it to our name yet. I informed them that they could have caused me a lot less stress and them a lot less trouble if they had simply mailed them all at the same time. Here is my story:

I woke up Friday morning ready for me and the kiddos to drive my niece, C, to Houston to meet with her mom, my sister-in-law so that they could go to a couple of doctor's appointments. The first thing I noticed on our new white car, was that there was a flat tire on the back. We got over to Dinky's work and saw the screw in the tire, so we decided to take the little Geo. We finally got on our way only about 30 minutes later than planned, but we made it there. The trade off went well, and with warm good-byes since we wouldn't see each other again until Christmas, the kids and I were on the way to the Woodland's Mall, and C & C were on their way to appointments. Little did I know that we would see each other much sooner! I was driving in the middle lane of the fabulous 5-lane Interstate 45 when there was a thunk, and Princess immediately asked if we had a flat tire. I thought that we had just hit something on this busy highway since the car did not jerk or swerve, but within seconds, I knew that I was wrong. We managed to pull over to the shoulder of the road, and I was ready to cry. Here I was on a busy interstate, in view of an exit (Rayford-Sawdust for those of you that now the area) but unable to drive any further as I was already on the rim, with two young children in my car. I called Dinky who offered to come get me, but he is of course, hours away. I call C & C who immediately turned around and came back to sit with me. And, my brother-in-law, who was on the phone with my sister-in-law, called his auto service who would send someone to come rescue me in about an hour. An hour! So, that is when Dinky called back and said to take it Discount Tires because that is where we just bought the 4 new tires just over a year ago, and his boss had told him about the recall that we didn't know about. Finally, a fabulous mechanic shows up and changes my tire to the donut, then he actually follows me to Discount Tire to make sure that I get there safely. How sweet and wonderful is that! C had already taken the kids in her car to get them off of the highway, and she met me at the tire store. I informed the wonderful worker at Discount Tire that my tire had just blown out and that I wanted all of my tires checked for this recall. The man nicely walked out to my car, took one look at the valve on the tire, and said, "Yep. That is what caused the blowout." Really! Nice time to find out! Essentially, the valve had split open at a weak point which caused the pressure to burst the tire. But I ended up with a brand new tire, and four brand new valve stems for absolutely free. Since "Customer Satisfaction" was written on my receipt, I feel sure that that little part about them trying to kill me and my children which I said very loudly in ther packed waiting room helped in getting such great service. Anyhow, the children and I ended up going with C & C to their doctor's appointments, and we had a pleasant enough day. Dinky had to drive down to pick up my keys from Discount Tire since we wouldn't get back out there in time, so he met us for dinner and then we drove home. We got home at 11:30 P.M. We were pooped!

Things that I am thankful for:
*Great family members who came and rescued me! It was very comforting to have someone there to help me make decisions.
*My brother-in-law's great auto service!
*The great guy with Milstead Automotive who also protected me and himself by the way he parked behind me to change the tire. There have been way too many incidents of cars parked on shoulders being hit and people being killed, and the tire that needed changing was on the trafiic side. He angled the van, and he turned the tires away from us so that, if hit, it would go away from us. How thoughtful!
*My friends and family who prayed for the safety of me and the children. Because of their prayers, all except one car was able to merge into the second lane and not pass close to us on the shoulder. It was like we were "removed" from the road!
*We had a great day despite all the stress and nobody was seriously injured or hurt! It could have been much worse!

When I figure out how to download pictures from my phone, I will show the picture of my wonderful tire. I will also try really hard to update you this week on our other, more fun activities!

Let's call it art!

2008-07-16T12:13:00.002-05:00

The time has come to paint the children's room. We allowed them to pick out their paint with just a little bit of guidance from us. Then, after all the prep work, Superman got a chance to paint his own room. He had a great time! But, everytime that he got a spot of paint on him, he stopped painting to go get a wipie to clean up. I tried to explain that we would clean up when we were done, but he wouldn't have any of that! This blue that he has chosen is called "Artesian Water." The color is very similar to the blue painter's paint. Imagine that all over the walls. It is quite bright, and it even appears to be glowing off of the walls in the hallway. I sure do hope that with a second coat and the blinds back on the windows, that the glowing goes away!

He has already done quite a bit of the wall here.

Let's see how high I can reach!

As most of you know, Superman likes things to be done in a certain way. This did come in handy because he made sure that his painting met up with my painting so that it would be "one big blue."

This is the art of it! Superman is very proud of his long, straight stripes.

Bowling with our Buddies!

2008-07-08T15:09:00.003-05:00

I have a very dear friend, W, who used to be my roommate, then she had her first child 6 months after Princess was born, and her second child and Superman were actually born on the same day. She now has a third child. We have known each other for 13 years now, and we know that this friendship with us and our children will go on for many more years. Anyhow, end of the sappy story! She invited us to go bowling with her and the girlies, and we had lots of fun! Thanks for inviting us, W! We would love to go again one day!

Princess had the best form of all of out there! She was very pleased with herself! Of course, last night she was complaining about her back hurting, and her hip has popped three times now. She is actually limping a little bit. I hope that she didn't hurt herself bowling because then she will never want to go again!

Superman thought that he was so strong!

Superman bowled by placing the ball on the lane then giving it a slight push. Most of the time, the ball went about halfway down the lane and then just stopped. We would have to go down and push it the rest of the way. However, as I was snapping this picture, I heard a loud clunk and then another one. Superman ending up throwing his ball into the lane, then it bounced over the bumpers on the left and ended up on that little strip of blue that separates the lane! It rolled about halfway down and then it just stopped perched up there on the blue part. The guy at the bowling alley said that that was one that he had not seen before!

Busy on the Fourth!

2008-07-08T14:54:00.003-05:00

To celebrate the nation's birthday this year, we went to Gram's and Granddaddy's house. Their county has festivities each year at the county seat which include an arts and craft show, a parade, and some good fireworks. The kids have always enjoyed going to these things. I am hoping that it is because they feel good living in such a great country and want to celebrate that, but I am pretty sure that it is because of the snow cones and the candy that they throw out at the parade.

This is Princess with her cousin M who is only 5 days younger than her. Unfortunately, my baby is going to be quite a bit shorter than her! We have pictures of them together as babies when they were actually about the same size, but as the get older, M gets taller and taller!

This is Princess with her cousin G who is one month younger than her. Once again, look at the difference in height! Anyhow, they are practically out in the street about to be runover by the floats because they want at any candy that is thrown first.

Superman was content to sit on Daddy for a little while, until some candy was thrown (see picture below). You can see his snow cone all down the front of his shirt. I thought that it was ruined after he also played in the dirt at the house, but thanks to Oxiclean, we have a white shirt again.

Superman going after the candy! He would sit on Daddy until candy was thrown acting all hot and tired, but as soon as he saw candy, he was on the run to get it!

The fireworks lasted nearly 40 minutes. This is Princess, Superman, and cousins M and B "dancing" to the "music" created by the popping. It was great!

Swimming Lessons

2008-06-30T12:28:00.002-05:00

You will all be pleased to know that I registered the children in swimming lessons this year. A sweet young lady who is the daughter of one of the teachers at my school taught the lessons in their backyard pool. It was wonderful because the groups were small and she was so patient with them all! I am pleased to report that Princess and Superman will both put their face in the water without screaming like they are being killed, and they no longer cling to me like leeches at the pool. I actually got to swim by myself on the last trip to the pool because they were off playing on their own. They even went down the slide in the deep end! Now, there is still lots of progress to be made before they are actually swimming on their own, but this is a dramatic improvement from even just a few weeks ago!

Princess using her big arms to "swim" across the pool.

Superman swimming with his face in the water!

I can fly! This is just a happy picture. I love it! Superman is jumping into the pool from the side which is something that he had never done before.

Princess kept the dogs occupied during Joshua's swimming lesson. This is Sadie and LouLou. Bailey did not move from her spot to be in the picture.

We need a fashion consultant!

2008-06-29T21:31:00.002-05:00

I think that I have become the ultimate relaxed mother. Yesterday afternoon, we decided to go out to eat, so I told Princess and Superman to put on some clothes. (They were wandering around in their underwear as usual!) We went out to eat at CiCi's Pizza in these gorgeous outfits! People did look at us, but we just didn't care! The kids loved their outfits so we just acted like this was perfectly normal!

Don't you love the soccer socks and the hiking boots?

Princess says that this shirt matches this skirt because they both have blue on them and they both have flowers on them. You can't see them here, but she is wearing her red, white, and blue flip-flops with this outfit. She admitted that the blue was not the right color to match the outfit, but that it was close enough.

I just thought that I was a bandit yesterday!

2008-06-24T16:16:00.002-05:00

Today, the kiddos and I went out to eat at Abuelo's. The teachers from my school get together every couple of weeks for lunch (team building!), so I decided to join them today. We had a bowl a queso, a child's enchilada plate, a child's chicken nugget plate, a Durango burrito, 2 teas, and a lemonade. Now, can you guess how much I paid including the tip?

$1.42!!!

That's right folks! The three of us ate for less than $2.00 at a sit-down restaurant! Abuelo's adopted our school this past year, so I have a never ending coupon for free cheese. Then I had two coupons for free kid's meals. I also had $5.00 off of any order, and I had a $5.00 gift card. Amd, because of the size of the group, gratuity was included so I could use the gift card to pay for that. I sure do hope that they adopt us again next year! Wonderful free meals provided to us a couple of times at school, plus all these other goodies! I am officially spoiled!

I'm a bandit!

2008-06-23T12:43:00.003-05:00

I just went to Walgreen's and the cashier said that I made out like a bandit! I went in to exchange some barrettes and I owed .70 cents for that. But also bought 3 boxes of cereal that were 3/$5.00, but I used a coupon for $1.50 off of 3 boxes of cereal, so it was really 3/$3.50. I also got 2-24 packs of water for $3.99 each. Then I used my register rewards from my last visit ($5.50) and I owed just $8.41. Then, when I checked out, I received coupons worth $3.50 and a register rewards for $2.00 off my next visit. That means that I paid a whopping $2.21 (took off the .70 cents for the barrette exchange) for 48 bottles of water and 3 boxes of cereal. Of course, I have to remember to use those register rewards before they expire, but I feel that that was a wonderful shopping trip! Saving money is fun!

It just makes a mom feel good!

2008-06-19T15:37:00.002-05:00

Princess and I had a conversation yesterday that really made my heart feel good. The principal at our school wanted a copy of Texas Monthly from December because our school was listed in it as one of the best in Texas. Well, we happen to have that magazine so I was going to take it up to the school to give to him. The conversation went like this:

Princess: "Why are we taking a magazine to Mr. M? Does he want something to read?"

Mom: "Mr. M wants this magazine because there is an article in it that says that our school is awesome! Don't you think that our school is awesome!"

Princess: "Well, I did feel awesome while I was there."

Isn't that adorable! I am so happy that my child loves her school and feels "awesome" while she is up there absorbing all that material into her brain. I know that all children are not fortunate enough to have good feelings about school, and I am very thankful that my child has found a good spot! I wish that for all our children!

Carlsbad Caverns--A Vacation!

2008-06-17T16:57:00.003-05:00

We took an actual vacation! We went to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico. We had a great time! This was the first time that we have been to a vacation spot that was "just because" and was not with the sole destination of seeing a family member and staying at their house. We do love those trips, but a side trip for some sight-seeing is wonderful, too!

Notice the high temperature for the day that we were there--105 degrees! No wonder there was a fire restriction in the area!

On the way down to the entrance. These ramps go back and forth and back and forth, and they are incredibly steep. But there is no way to go just straight down. We ended up at least 750 feet below ground.

Princess needed to wear a coat to keep warm once we got down into the caverns. The temperature below ground stays at around 56 degrees year-round. I thought that it was wonderful!

Superman needed to take a break. The entire trail and route around the caverns is about 3 miles long. It took us 3 hours to see everything and walk everywhere.

These are some of the cool formations that you will see down in the caverns. These are called "Lion's Tails." It is easy to see how wonderfully creative God can be when you see all of these wonderful formations made by moving and dripping water over many centuries. I don't think that there is a human anywhere that could have come up with this amount of beauty!

Dirt! Rocks! Water! Mud!

2008-06-17T16:42:00.003-05:00

Superman loves to dirt, rocks, and water. Preferably, all at the same place at the same time. We recently spent a couple of weekends at Grams and Granddaddy's house, and they have a great patch of dirt that the kiddos are allowed to dig in to their heart's content! They get filthy! But they have a great time, and the smiles are worth it! Sometimes, I just want to go out and join them! Maybe one day I will!

I'm almost to China, Mom! That is what Superman said as he was digging. When he was done, this hole was about 18 inches or more deep. Grams, being the wonderful grandmother that she is, then filled the hole with water, and I think that you all know what happened next. Yes, he jumped right in! He was out before a picture could be taken, but I am sure that you can imagine the mess! We just took his clothes off of him before he was allowed back in the house!

On a different weekend, Cousins A and B were at Grams and Granddaddy's house, too. They all worked together to dig this moat which they filled with rain water. Then the floated their boats in it. Those are chicken feathers on the island for decorations.

When they were done with the moat, they jumped around in it a while! Superman is in this picture, but he is hidden by the giggling girls!

Of course, he had to have his own turn!

This is the only way to get them clean after a sunny afternoon of playing in the dirt. They would clog the bathtub if we didn't get some of the dirt off first!

Graduation!

2008-06-17T16:11:00.003-05:00

Princess became an official graduate of kindergarten on the morning of May 30th. We are so proud of her! According to the "officious" testing at the school (read as non-formal), she is reading at a second grade level, and writing and completing math computations at the mid-to-high first grade level. Her teacher apparently told her this because she came home the night before graduation and said, "Mommy, you need to sign me up to take that test so that I can skip first grade and go right to second grade. I'm a smart girl, you know!" I did not sign her up for the test, and she will be going to first grade next year. She just learns so quickly---like a little sponge! She has to be shown or told how to do something one time, and it is there forever! I do hope that she continues to love school and love to learn!

Receiving her diploma from our principal, Mr. M. (Yes, his head is shaved. He shaved it because of a wager that he had with the 3rd and 4th grade about those tests that we have to take. Our school did awesome!)

Princess with her teacher Mrs. C. She was the greatest teacher! Grace loves her!

The proud graduate!

No this is not her boyfriend! But he was a good friend! Handsome, isn't he!

What have we been doing?

2008-06-10T17:20:00.002-05:00

We have been doing alot lately, and I haven't told any of you about it! Sorry! When we get back from our trip, I will try to tell you about all of these things:

*Princess graduated from Kindergarten!
*Superman tried to dig to China!
*Scrapbooking!
*Couponing! (The rest of you finally got to me!)
*Swimming lessons!
*VBS fun!
*A trip to Carlsbad Caverns!
*Water heater mishaps!
*Kitchen sink mishaps!
*Moving classrooms!
*Many other things that I will think of between now and then!

Until then, please know that we are alive and well and having a wonderful summer!

Catching Up!

2008-05-07T17:20:00.001-05:00

Be sure to read down through several posts. We have been super busy during the past week! Lots of great memories have been made! Look for Mommy Makeover, Superman's program, and Princess's recital. More to come next week!

Mommy Makeover Time!

2008-05-07T16:58:00.006-05:00

My massage! She was good Grams and Grammy so you might want to request a leg massage next time we visit!

My pedicure complete with Barbie Pink nail polish!

Yes! My fingernails did look like this when she was finished! And, I left it on all day long even for a meeting with a parent. She understand as her son had gone to kindergarten here a couple of years ago.

Here, she is putting on my pink eye shadow. The boy in the background is a boy from her class whose mother was unable to come. He rubbed my back the whole time (heaven!), and he helped to douse me with the glitter.

The finished look! The glitter doesn't show up, but trust me, I was covered from head to toe! Notice the blush on one cheek, but not the other. The barrettes and the flower in the hair are particularly lovely. My hair is pulled back in a ponytail which she did by herself. If you too, would like to have a makeover, just let me know. I am sure that Princess would like to treat you special, too!

In honor of Mother's Day, Princess's school has a "Mommy Makeover Spa Day" where all the kindergarteners get to pamper their mothers, grandmas, or a significant female in their life. This was hysterical, but I loved every minute of it. Princess had drawn a picture of her and me at the "Day Spa on the Rock" which is just gorgeous, scrapbooking material, and she also had a checklist of the services that I was to receive: 1.) manicure, 2.)pedicure, 3.) massage, 4.) hair, and 5.) make-up. And that is exactly what she did after presenting me with a bottle of water to sip on and a beautiful flower. At the end of the experience, we had to model for all of the other moms and the children, and it became very evident who had girls and who had boys. The moms with boys barely had any makeup on, whereas the ones with girls had makeup in all sorts of colors on all sorts of body parts. I had glitter in my hair, on my face, on my clothes, everywhere! Oh, well, it was fun! Princess really enjoyed it!

Mommy Makeover Time!

2008-05-07T16:58:00.001-05:00

There is Power in the Blood!

2008-05-07T16:50:00.003-05:00

There is power! It was so cute to see these little children "pumping" there arms up and making "muscles" as the movements to this song. It is a great reminder that everything about God doesn't have to be so serious. God wants us to have fun as we worship and praise, and these children were definitely doing that!

Showing us how to pray.

This song is about the tabernacle.

Here is Superman with his friend, T. He says that they are best friends and they certainly act like it. Everyday when we leave, they have to hug each other!

Superman participated in his school's end-of-the-year program. It is the first time that he has done something on his own in front of a group, so we were afraid that he would have a melt down, but he made it seem like he was a pro! The 2-year-olds through the 5-year-olds sang and did motions to several great songs from church including "There is Power in the Blood" and "Amazing Grace." They were so cute and we had a lot of good laughs. When I get the DVD, we will have to have a viewing party so that you can all have a night of laughs, too. They say that laughing is good for you!

Let's Dance the Afternoon Away!

2008-05-07T16:41:00.003-05:00

Ballet Dance

Look at that great form!

Actually one of the few doing the right thing at the right time! Go, princess!

Princess with her friend J who is also in her kindergarten class, and who went to preschool with her last year. They really have become buddies this year!

The Jazz dance was really cute and the girls enjoyed it!

Princess performed in her annual dance recital on Saturday afternoon. Her dancing has really improved this year, and she has already asked me to enroll her for next year. I have talked a friend of ours into giving her private dance lessons for a few times this summer, and she is especially excited about that! It is such a joy to see her excited about dancing and performing. She does not seem to have any fear at all about being in front of others, and I pray that God will use that somehow.

Splurge Buy!

2008-04-27T15:09:00.003-05:00

I don't recommend this on a regular basis, but it was fun! After church today, we went out to eat at a little Mexican restaurant in downtown with our friends P & L and baby A. They told us about a furniture store that was going out of business, so we dropped by on our way home. Then, we bought a couch and a loveseat! Totally unexpected, but we just couldn't pass it up! Our many friends will agree with us in saying that our lovely flowered couch that I bought 13 years ago has seen its better days. Our family members who have had to sleep on the old couch are probably singing songs of praise right now. Now, when you visit us, you will be sitting on this lovely deep brown microfiber (fabric that is kid-proof and pet proof!) couch with recliners at both ends and we also have the matching loveseat with two recliners. Four people can recline at one time! How fun is that? Superman and Princess think it is cool! Princess also asked why I was trying to get rid of all the flowers in the house, and Superman actually cried because I was getting rid of more flowers which he insists that he loves, but they will both get over it. The best news is that we were able to write a check for the amount of the couch, and it is out-and-out ours. We got rid of all credit cards more than three years ago and have only used credit to purchase the car since then. It is quite freeing to not be tied down to anybody, or to owe a ton of money. We just don't buy things that we don't have the money for. Sounds simple and easy, but it isn't. However, it is worth it! Anyhow, if you need some furniture at a great price, visit the store downtown that is going out of business. You can't miss their huge yellow signs. And, come by and see us soon to try out the new couches!

Happy Birthday, B!

2008-04-23T22:29:00.004-05:00

Superman's idea of swimming! The water is about 4 inches deep here!
Taking a ride on the dinosaur. They did actually get off the ledge and go for a real ride!
Princess is actually in the deep end here. She feels very confident in her life jacket since she has figured out that it really does help her stay up above the water.
Maybe if I water Daddy he will grow a little taller!
Happy Birthday, B!
We spent this past Saturday at B's birthday party. B is the cousin of Princess and Superman and she is now 11. She always has a swimming party in the pool in her backyard. It is always alot of fun except for one minor problem. My children can't swim! But at least this time they were not attached to me like leeches, and they did not throw a screaming, throw down fit when they got water on their faces. Progress! Don't worry! They have already been signed up for swim lessons for this summer.

OK--All you good bloggers that know these things, how do I get the pictures below the test that I typed? I typed the above paragraph before I put the pictures in thinking that the pictures would appear below it. Well, it didn't! And I don't like it! How do I fix it?

Do you like flowers?

2008-04-21T19:52:00.002-05:00

I do happen to like flowers. Some nice, fresh cut flowers in all the colors that God has made can really lift the spirits. But the ones covering the dining room wall, the ones on the border in the kitchen, and the ones in both bathrooms have got to go! This is the wall border in the kid's bathroom. Does it look like a kid's bathroom to you? I didn't think so either, so the do-it yourself projects have begun!

They make getting this stuff down look easy on Trading Spaces!
This is what the new kid's bathroom will look like. A oceany blue color on the wall. A fishy shower curtain and appropriate fishy accessories. I will post some pictures if we ever actually finish!

Obligatory Bluebonnet Pictures

2008-03-31T17:09:00.005-06:00

Everyone takes the "bluebonnet" pictures with their children, so I decided to cave in to peer pressure. Bluebonnets are everywhere! I finally got the kiddos dressed up in matching outfits and took some pictures. The outfits are actually for July 4th, but I liked the colors, and I wanted to get some good use out of them, so now they are bluebonnet picture-taking outfits. Superman does not like his shorts because they look like Princess's dress and he does not like "girl" stuff. He also insisted that those beautiful bluebonnets were biting him. They weren't. And there weren't any ants either! Enjoy the pictures!

Go, Firebirds!

2008-03-30T19:17:00.003-06:00

Waiting to go into the game! (They were comparing how many times they had rolled their socks.)
Right in the middle of the action! Amazingly, no one was trampled during this play!
She had just kicked the ball and was going after it! How does she run leaning over like that? The girl on the other team (#9 in the green) is a friend of hers from school. They managed to quit talking long enough to play the game!
Princess ended up being the designated kicker for our team! #15 on our team is also from our school but princess declares that she has no "boy" friends.
Coach giving the end of the game pep talk.

Princess started playing in soccer games on Saturday morning. Her team name is the Firebirds and they have lovely maroon and yellow shirts with maroon socks. She is the only girl on the team! There are 5 boys and her. She says that the good thing about that is that no one will fight her for her ball. You all probably guessed that it was pink and purple! The pictures ended up above this text, but I will work on getting things where I want them in the future. The good news is that I figured out how to put the text at least near the pictures. Anyway, it was so refreshing to watch these children have a great time playing soccer with each other! They weren't worried about who was winning, and they cheered everytime anybody made a good play or a goal. We don't even know who won---but nobody cared!!! I wonder how long it will be before they realize what a "game" is really about?

15 seconds of fame!!!

2008-03-26T20:35:00.003-06:00

Princess got her 15 seconds of fame this week at school. Her class is in charge of leading announcements, and she was chosen to go on two days. However, every morning, she has told me to get to school on time so that she can "substitute" if someone shows up too late. And, every morning this week, she has gone to the gym like the 600 other children in the school instead of staying in my classroom. She really does enjoy being in the spotlight! This is a picture of her appearing on the TV in my classroom. She was in charge of reading the lunch menu on this day.

Easter Fun!

2008-03-26T20:19:00.003-06:00

Here are some fun Easter pictures! We hunted eggs at Grams and Granddaddy's house this year. The weather was gorgeous and wonderful! It was actually warm for the first time in the past 5 years, and it didn't snow! There were only three kids hunting all those eggs and I know that I "hid" at least 200 of them filled with candy and some change. Everyone had a great time, and we sincerely hope that we found all the eggs.

New First Post!!!

2008-03-23T13:14:00.002-06:00

Well, Dinky finally decided that I could blog for real! I had to agree not to use our real names or to tell you any identifying information, but that shouldn't be a problem for my usual readers. You should know me, the kiddos, and each other, so even with code names, you will know what I am talking about. After I download some pictures, I will get on with telling you about our lives.

Until then. . . .HAPPY EASTER!

This is the first post!

2007-06-19T12:26:00.000-05:00

This is the first ever post of The Normal Nolens! Nothing much to exciting to report here, but I will tell you about our week. My nieces, B & A, are spending the week with us to attend Sports Camp at our church. They have been a huge help, and I might consider keeping them longer! They read to Honey Bunny and Butterball, and everyone plays together happily. That means that I can play on the computer reading other blogs or read my own book by myself. I have even been to the bathroom by myself this week! When we went to the pool today, I was able to talk to some friends who showed up without Butterball clinging to me as if he was going to get sucked away. And when the pool had to be vacated of over 100 children plus their parents, A & B each took one of the kids and I helped direct traffic. We are home now and ready for our long, afternoon nap. So don't call me!

I must give some thanks to Dinky in this post, too. How many Dads do you know that will go to the park with 4 kids (2 of his own and 2 nieces) at noon when it is around 90 degrees and get all sweaty then go back to work? That is what Dinky did yesterday when I had a doctor's appointment at noon. He had a picnic with them and then played and raced around the playground with the kids. It is great to know that I can depend on him when needed, and that he won't complain about it--well, not too much anyway! He's great! I don't know if his office thougtht that it was so great, but I appreciated him!

I will try to post here often and let you all know what is going on in our house. Don't expect any pictures yet though. I haven't figured out where the cord goes for the digital camera, the scanner, or the phone with pictures, so until Dinky gets time to show me, you will have to use your imaginations!