Take a Little Trip...

Sorry, I'm just getting around to blogging about our WA trip.  We had a great time.

It started off funny and got funnier.  We were in the airport at the gate waiting for Amy and Billy the Kid.  It was 5:00 in the morning and we were at the last gate at the end of the hall.  I was letting Erin run around a little to work off some energy.  She was at the window watching the planes when Amy and William got there.  I was hugging Amy and we were about 10 seconds into a conversation since they had just walked up.  I look over and Erin is pushing one of those luggage dollies and William is riding it like a surfboard.  It all happened in a matter of seconds!  It scared me and I thought it was hilarious all at the same time.  This set the tone for the trip.

The plane ride was eventful since Erin has no volume control.  Her ears were stopped up and she was talking really loud.  We made the mistake of letting the kids sit together on the first flight.  They were fighting over the armrest before we even left the gate.  Problem solved, I just put the armrest up.  But...they kept touching each other's seat.  Oh, how it brought back memories of riding in the back of my Momma's Monte Carlo (with no seat belt) fighting with Amy about the imaginary line in the backseat.

We had a great visit with the Aunts, Uncles and Cousins.  Almost all of them turned up for the BBQ/family reunion on Saturday.  My Aunts went above and beyond the call of duty on the party.  I think the biggest hit was the Bouncy House.  (Yay Aunt Sheila and Aunt Sheryl!)  It was such a home run that my older cousins were in it too and even I had to go down it once or twice!

We also went to the park and the kids got to feed the ducks and geese.  I have pictures below of all the ducks, bread and kiddos.  We were with my cousin Justin's kids and they were terrific with Erin and William.

My cousin Matt has a Gator and he more than happily gave the kids rides on it.  My Aunt Sheryl lives on a huge farm and they had plenty of space to ride and run.  There is a small 4 wheeler there too, but they're too little for it.  I think they rode a tractor or two while they were there and even climbed up in a Combine.

All in all it was a great trip.  I love the fact that we were able to get most of the family together.  We don't see them very often, but when we do it's just like we've never been apart.  I handed out tons of invitations to come stay with us.  I just made sure to tell my Snow Bunnies to come in October or April.  That's the nicest weather we get!  They could always come in the "winter" and laugh at us for thinking it's cold!!

Love to all that came and a big thank you for all that you did!

Alive and Well...

We made it to Washington and back without losing anyone.  I can't stress enough what an accomplishment this was!  We had 2 Toddlers and Gram to keep in line.  Erin was an adventure on the plane on the way up.  "Inside Voice" is not in her vocabulary.  She was loud on the plane and had a hard time settling down, but did eventually nap on the 2nd flight.  She loved the take off and landing and was impressed with the snow in the Rockies.  I heard her tell William that they were going to make a snowman after Christmas because it would snow.  He was excited.

We had a great visit with the Aunts and Uncles Friday, Saturday and Sunday.  My Aunt Sheryl went above and beyond the call of duty making her house ready for us.  She remodeled the basement to accommodate us and put in a Toy Room!  The kids loved it.  In fact, both of them ended up stealing a Match Box car from the toy room.  We found them on our travels back.  William picked his up in the rental van and Erin had put hers in the backpack.

My aunts also rented a big Bounce House for the kiddos at the Reunion/party.  It was a tremendous hit.  Most of my cousin's kids were really excited about it too.  They delivered it on Friday and we had a tough time keeping Erin and William out of it!  It was such a hit that my 22 year old cousin Marshall and his friends got in it on Sunday night and jumped like little kids.  (Of course, they were drinking beer and jumping, but whose judging!!)

I got to visit with cousins I haven't seen in 20 years.  We've all changed a lot but we picked up just like we've never been apart.  (Most of them are kept in the loop with this blog and I didn't realize just how many of them actually read it!!!  It was a pleasant surprise.)  It means so much that they all put their busy lives on hold to come and see us.  Some of them live 5 hours away.  They all came like it was no big deal to make that drive.  We broke out some of the old cousin photos and had a great laugh.  Jason had short shorts, Jon Jon had no shirt on and Justin and Amy had the same haircut.  (I of course looked stunning in all the old photos.)

The only hitch in the whole thing was our allergies really kicked in.  By Saturday, I had laryngitis and a stopped up head.  Erin had a constant snotty nose and she and William kept sneezing.

Erin and William got along great on this trip.  Yes, they had some minor dust ups but for the most part they were great company for each other.  I'm very proud of them.  They were troopers and even had fun when we had to literally sprint from one gate to the other in the San Fran airport to make our connecting flight.  We got off one plane and took off running.  We found the flight board and of course the gate was on the other side of the airport.  I made Erin run along side me holding her hand and carrying our bags.  Amy had to carry William and run with her backpack.  We made it as they were boarding the plane.  We were some of the last ones on before they shut the door, but we made it.

I'll post pictures of the trip as soon as I find my camera!

A big thank you goes out to all the WA relatives.  You have no idea how much we enjoyed seeing you and really do appreciate the efforts you all put in!  We love you!

Whistle While You Sew...

I've been hard at it with my new sewing machine, so I have taken so time off of blogging. More to come from WA and our travels.

I'll also have an announcement in the coming weeks...and no, I'm not pregnant!  I would jump off a bridge if that was the case!!!

The WAM Flying Circus...

When we do anything involving my family I call it WAM (Wistner, Ammerman, Mize).  I started it a couple of years ago and it stuck.  This month's adventure has the WAM Women and Children boarding a plane and taking off without our men!  (I'm really not sure how all of them managed to dodge the bullet.)

We leave early, early tomorrow morning for Washington.  Mom grew up there and most of her brothers and sisters are still in the area.  I have about 20 cousins up there too!  I created this plan and recruited Amy along.  None of the family have met Erin or William so we thought it would be great to show them off.  Momma has been wanting to go and will be bursting with pride showing them off.  Of course Aunt Mimi was more than willing to go.  Amy loves a good road trip - even if it is by plane.

We planned it months ago and it's finally here.  We invited ourselves to stay with my Aunt Sheryl and really didn't give her much choice!  We get there Thursday afternoon and we'll stay with my aunt until Monday morning.  Then we board the planes again for the return. Gram is extending her stay for 2 weeks after we leave, so traveling back will either be easier or much harder without the extra person.

This will be Erin's first time on a plane.  I wouldn't be concerned if it was just one 2 hour flight but it's 2 - 2.5 hour flights!  There are no non-stop flights to WA from Houston.  We have a layover in Denver so the kids can stretch their legs a little bit before we get back on a plane for WA.  I just hope the battery in her ipad lasts 6 hours!!!  We leave so early that I hold out false hope that she'll sleep a little on the plane.  (Yes, I'm kidding myself!)

Anyone who knows Erin knows that she is not the most quiet child.  Her inside voice shakes the walls.  I have no idea how I'm going to keep her quiet on the plane and I'm sure the guy in front of her will enjoy a nice 2.5 hour back massage while she kicks his chair.  We're hoping that the kids will do good having each other there.  They can entertain each other or feed off each other if they're bad!  It's 50/50.

Erin is beyond excited about going on the plane.  I've had to tell her it's 4 sleeps away, then 3 sleeps away, etc.  She told me she was going to get on the plane and fly high into the clouds.  Funny thing is that about her age Momma took me to WA w/o my Daddy.  I remember very clearly wanting to take a jar and open the window so we could bring some clouds home to show Daddy.  It's funny how the 3 year old mind works the same!

I'm taking my ipad so I should be able to blog and upload some pictures while we're there.  More form the aerial adventures...and don't worry about me.  I'll be drinking on the plane!

Sweat Shop Momma...

Loving the new sewing machine I got as an early Mother's Day present.  I ordered it early because I was on a sewing kick.  Tommy relented but hates to give presents early.  I think I wore him down!

I've been to Joann about a dozen times and bought all kinds of material and patterns.  This new machine takes a lot of the work out of it and I put things together much faster.  It's complicated and easy at the same time!!

I'm branching out to harder patterns and I'm going to tackle a pair of pants next instead of just dresses.  I bought the material yesterday and loved the pattern.  Saw this yellow material and decided to make a little dress last night.  It takes about a 2 hours to make these this particular little dress so I did it last night while Tommy was at the Rockets game and Erin was in bed.

The sewing relaxes me and I've really been on a streak lately.  I've been very stressed at work and I seem to love to come home and work on things at night.  It's my therapy.  I just dread the day that Erin decides these are too Homemade looking to be cool.