HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!

!!!!!!!!HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!!!!!!

What what what!

I know it's crazy..........2 posts.
But Emma and I just got back from my little brother's( Zak) Jr. High production of Alice in Wonderland. It was GREAT!!
Way to go Zak! We had a great time because the whole cast seemed to really be enjoying themselves, and of course because Zak is such a stud! He looked great, he sounded great, and that's all because he is great!
We love you Zak!
And we had a great time seeing Aaron, Grandma Nutt, Grandpa, Aunt Krista, baby Tymber, Aunt Faye and cousin Mike too! Thanks for a fun family activity.
Mark had to miss it, because he stayed home with Wes. Wes came down with, what I like to call Clines disease, because it is exactly what almost all the Clines kids are at home battling as we speak. Thanks guys. We feel even closer to you now. Hope everybody is feeling better soon.
-Seacrest Out!

An Open Forum

There have, of course, been several things that I could've blogged about within the past 5 or 6 months, and yet did not take the initiative. So today will be a photo montage because, let's face it, we all like to look at pictures rather than read my ramblings.

Halloween Night!! Emma was a ballerina, and Wes was a "Rockin' " Spider!!

We spent Halloween trick-or-treating with 4 other families and their kids. It was a blast! We loved being out in our own community. This a picture w/ Autumn and Josh. None of the big group pictures I took came out.
Emma and I went to see the Broadway version of "The Lion King" at Music Hall in Dallas on the 13th of October. We'd had our tickets for a whole year, and Emma had patiently waited. It was well worth the wait! We loved it! It is so neat to be able to share these kind of things with her, and to watch her light up with awe and feel inspired together.

Twin Day at school!
This is Wes' "Gang" of trouble makers! Thank goodness we have a backyard!!!!

The pumpkin patch at the Arboretum

I took Emma to the mall one night before Wesley's birthday so that she could buy him a present. As we walked around we passed by the Godiva store, and Emma nearly broke her neck looking back over her shoulder at the chocolates. I took her into the shop and the chocolatier let us sample a few pieces. She then asked Emma what her favorite kind of chocolate is, and Emma told her that it is chocolate with chocolate inside. We picked out 3 different truffles to take with us. As the shop-girl was packing them for us, Emma gazed in wonder at all the many chocolates surrounding her, and then looked at me and asked in an awe-struck voice, "Mom? How do they make chocolate?"

And just by chance, the Arboretum has an entire exhibit, that is running through December, all about the "Chocolate Tree"! We discovered where chocolate comes from, how it is made, and even got to sample some.

I've been taking Wesley to an hour long class on Tuesday mornings at the Rec Center. He gets to play, sing, dance, jump, climb, and play with a giant parachute! And we love his teacher, Mrs. Morales. We even had her oldest daughter babysit for us one evening. It was our first "real" babysitter. The kids loved her, and we will definitely have her over again. (That was the night of the infamous Oct 27th post!)
Wes turned 2 on October 7th!! We were at G & Papa's house for General Conference that Sunday, but between sessions we did a little celebrating. Wes wanted a Frog cake, and this was the best we could do:

Brittany and Emma made up party games and everything, with just a little help from G. They played pin-the-heart on Wesley, roll the pumpkin with your nose, and of course the spoon and potato race!

Emma decided that she wanted to cut her hair. She's been growing it out for almost 2 years so that she could have hair like Rapunzel, but she made the choice herself and Aunt Krista gave her a very cute new do!
We got Wes a Tee-ball set for his birthday, because we felt bad that he and Josh had to find creative ways to play, like this:

Oh yes, that is a football in a flower pot being hit with a shoe bat.

I thought that was pretty clever!

These are pictures from our end of summer, High School Musical 2 party!!

I just really liked this picture:

If it were up to Wes, we would be at the zoo everyday, and he would live with the Giraffes and Elephants.
We took family pictures while in Katy with Mark's family this summer. Apparently my children's eyes are very sun-sensitive. Who knew?
I really like Mark's smile in this one.

Here is the whole Don & Jeanette Phillips clan:
This was a big year for Emma. She turned 5 this summer, and we celebrated with every princess we know!

Mark stayed up all night before the party, painting our living room. It was our first party in our new home, and we did it in style. There was princess freeze dance, princess bingo, pin-the-crown on the life size Emma, and of course an all out princess treasure hunt. All the princessess arrived in full royal attire.

This one is just in here for the "cute" factor.

We went on our first annual trip to Blueberry Hills Farm with Molly and the Harris family. We had so much fun picking blueberries, and Wesley discovered that blueberries right off the bush are the best!!! There were so many more berries that made it into his mouth without even a chance of making it into his basket.

So, there it is. A slightly encompassing retrospective of the last 5 months. And for those requesting an "all about Tonia" blog, ask a question and I will answer, but I don't volunteer that information. You've got to be specific.

Why do I blog so little?

Why, oh why, did I post just 3 words last?
Maybe because the time was past,
Maybe because I felt too ill,
Or perhaps I had yet to finish my meal.
The reason could be that blogging felt "old".
But you want the truth so it must be told.
I wrote those three words and the bed had been laid,
So the love I professed had to be "made"!!

I love Mark

VICTORY!!!

Today I claim VICTORY!!

I feel 100% better than yesterday, thanks to my awesome support sisters, and because all school supplies at Target went on sale 75% off today!!!

It was just the BEST day ever.

Witness my $35 plunder:

For anyone who doesn't know me.... I LOVE school/office supplies! My husband even got me a bouquet of fresh pencils one year for Valentine's Day. Seriously, I have a problem.

But check this out; I went to Target first thing this morning after taking Emma to school and I just happened to get there as they were finishing the mark-down. I got backpacks, pencil boxes, tape, glue, stapler, markers, crayons, scissors, spiral notebooks, folders, drawing paper, white out, dry erase board, etc, etc, etc. I took Emma after school and she picked out a backpack for next year. I was able to fill it with 80% of what she will need for 1st grade, and put it away for next school year! Wesley even got a lunch bag to take when we have lunch with Emma at school. Like I said,

It was the Best Day!

Non-Blog

I'm supposed to blog today, and I've been catching up with my friends' blogs this morning, so I thought I better go ahead and add something while I'm on the computer. The only problem is that I'm not sure what to write about. Oh, I have plenty of thoughts but they are a big jumbled mess that will not form into coherent patterns of any kind.
We have a lot going on, but nothing that excites me or is accompanied by any feeling of accomplishment. So I suppose this a depressing rant. I have been feeling rather "BLAH" lately. I've been having all the unproductive thoughts of, "If only....". I could do so much, if only......
What a crock! Where's the magic that I'm known for?(known to whom, I'm not sure) The ability to create something from nothing. I've lost it as of late. Any suggestions? The other depressing news.......The Energy
It's gone, wilted, and sad. This used to happen every once in awhile, but was just a precursor to an explosion of positivity. I'm hoping that this is just a longer stint of the aforementioned situation, and all will be mended in no time.
Think good thoughts. Think good thoughts. Think good thoughts.
And now I will feel awfully guilty for posting such a blog, because my life is filled with so many blessings. But I do think that sometimes we're allowed to feel this way. Am I right? You see, now I need justification for my negativism.
Please feel free to share your positive affirmations with me. Thanks.

A Shout Out

Ok, Ok, so I fooled you all into thinking that my blogs would become more regular. I apologize for the deception, and am here to try and rectify my misdeeds.

I've included several pictures, with the intent of providing some interest. Let's dive in:

This is a picture of the "work" Emma came home with on her first day of school. She drew her friends Autumn, Ella, and Darcy in the bus windows along with herself.

She drew this next picture on the back of the page. Emma's little friend Darcy moved away, far far away to the vast lands of Missouri and Emma really misses her. She knows Darcy isn't old enough to go to Kindergarten yet, but she wanted her to know that she was thinking about her. Emma is in the red and Darcy the purple.

Sadly, this is the only picture I found of Darcy w/ Emma and Wes. This was from May '07 on our way to the zoo. But, I'm pretty sure the elephant hat may have given that away. I did find several out-of-focus pictures that I took one day when Darcy was over to play. I apparently didn't realize the need to use the flash.

This is a glimpse into Wes' new morning routine. Our good friend Autumn comes over in the morning to ride to school with us and usually helps to wake up Wes. Notice the subtle and gentle awakening. Thank you, Autumn! She can really get him going. She is one of Emma's best friends and Wesley loves her too.

These next two pictures were taken one day last week. They are an ode to the many wonders of paper. Mark helped the kids make a paper sword, and a princess hat. Then he and Emma designed their own paper house.

The house is complete with a bed, blanket, and pillows, a tree that houses a flying butterfly, a sun atop a mountain, and a fast car. This is a totally "green" house. That's right, 100% recycled products.

Yesterday Wes wasn't feeling very well, and Mark had to take him home early from church. We're pretty sure it's just his allergies, but he has been feeling congested and has had a very yucky nose. When Emma and I got home, she was very concerned about her little brother. Mark headed back to the church for meetings, and the kids immediately changed into their pajamas. Emma was so sweet, and gave Wes her stuffed puppy to hold while she "read" him stories to help him feel better while I made lunch.

I think it worked, because later that day I got the call..."Mom! Come see. We have a surprise for you!" And when I turned the corner from the kitchen, this is the scene that met my eyes:

The "Booty" dance!! on the couch, even! And now I have to take a moment to thank Emma's good friend, Miss Luella, for introducing us all to the "Booty Dance" this past summer at a sleep over Emma had in June. She is the true Booty Master! Just check her out in action

And as you can see, it works wonders! Just look at those happy faces.
To really make this "shout-out" post complete, I have to tell everyone about my good friend Farrah's incredible business she has started. I am so proud of her, and inspired by her tenacity and perserverence. Please check out her site at http://www.sweetpapery.com She is very talented and will only continue to grow this venture with the many creative ideas that she has. So, to my peeps..."What's up!"

Wesley Time

Have you met Wes? He is one of my two most favorite kids in the whole world!!
He will be turning 2 in October, and we have really had life change in these past 2 years. So much more energy and life has been brought into our family by the arms of Wesley.

It has really been nice to have time alone with him since Emma is now in school. He has even taken on all new challenges because he doesn't have his big sister here to do it all for him (whether he wants her to or not). As we arrive home from taking Emma to school in the morning he asks, "Mom, I push button open door?" I hand back the garage door opener and he pushes the right button first off. He suddenly is showing me how well he can count (which is something like, "count 1, 3, 2, 4,7" but at least those are actual numbers). He has gotten to play his "fishy" game as much as he wants, and loves to catch fish and tell me, "Yea, I caught a blue fishy!" or "a pink fishy" or "a green fishy" even though the fish might actually be red. I have to say though, that 89% of time he gets it right.
Of course I deeply believe that he is a genius. As rightfully I should.

All is Quiet

I can't believe how quiet it is now. It is 8:15pm, Emma and Wes have been asleep for 30 mins. Can you believe it?! They were so exhausted by their new ventures that they were both more than willing to head off to bed while the sun was still out. Emma had another great day at school. And like I told my sister, Krista, earlier; when I was driving her to school I secretly was looking forward to the first time she gets sick and has to stay home a day from school.

I have to tell all my wonderful girlfriends and fellow mothers of 1st time "schoolers" how much I have appreciated our mutual blubbering sessions and support calls. You are the best group of friends that I could have ever asked for. Thank you. And I can only hope that our kids will become that same support for each other.

And to all ...
A GOOD NIGHT!

The First Day of School

Today....I cried.

And Emma started Kindergarten.

Mark took a few hours off work this morning so that we could all take her to school. Doesn't she look ready! She was so excited that she told me she woke up 3 times during the night, and then told herself that it was still dark and she needed her sleep. We've been preparing for this over the last couple of weeks, and I was sure that because she went to preschool last year that I would not have such a hard time letting her go. But, it was still scary for me. All the "mom" worries have been running thru my mind: Will she be alright? What if she needs a snack? Will she make the right choices? 3:00 is soooo far away!! Have we taught her enough? Will she have fun?
And then I'm softly reminded that this is Emma we're talking about...she's going to love it! She got to pick out her first backpack and lunchbox, and even used the $ that Papa gave her (Thanks Papa!) to buy herself a matching princess Thermos.

I've really been holding it together pretty well. In fact it wasn't until this past Saturday that I started to cry. I was going thru her clothes, and she has a pair of little pink pants that she has worn since she was 9 months old. No kidding. They were pants, then capris, then shorts, and then pajama shorts. But, when she put them on she said they were too tight. From baby to Kindergartner.Just look at how much she has grown.

This picture was taken in February 2005

Halloween 2005
This picture was taken the day Wes was born! She has grown into such a great big sister, and Wesley loves her so much. When we took her into her classroom Wes asked which chair was his. And then driving home from dropping her off, he said that he wanted to go to school too. While he and I were having lunch, he looked at me and said, "I miss you mommy. I miss Emma." ..............................

Well, she's back!! We just got back from picking her up. She loved it! Wes was so excited to go get her, and when I asked Emma if she was ready to go back again tomorrow, Wes said "No! No more school."
Last Friday we had a dress rehearsal of sorts. A mock first day of school.
Emma's friend Autumn will be riding to school with us every morning, so she got to practice with us too.
Emma really likes her teacher, and we're pretty lucky because there are 4 other kids from her Primary class that are in the Kindergarten with her. In fact, her friend Ella is in the same class. She does not divulge enough information for my curiosity, but she says she wants to go back tomorrow and that is really what matters at this point. I'd say it's a pretty good day!