Number 5: Heading for the Border (and back again)

Welcome to Summer's Memorable Moments 2009, where we count down the craziness! (Yes, I've been a slacker...)

This summer we decided to get the heck out of Texas and head to Missouri to meet Kurt's brothers and families for cabin camping. The boys did great on what I would consider their first official road trip. We found that as long as you have a DVD player and snacks, life is good.

We started out with Tour De McDonalds. We like to stop and play every few hours, so McDonalds seemed like a good idea. Except each one was progressively more dirty than the previous. Seriously. Why don't they clean the playgrounds? We also saw amazing scenery including GREEN Grass and GREEN corn. Amazing!

A few other amazing things occured on the trip, other than having a fabulous time. We experienced the strange feeling of cool air and actually saw moisture falling from the sky in the form of large drops-(I think they call it rain). Joshua and Tobin loved hanging with the cousins and it was actually pretty relaxing. When went to a super fun water park in which their lack of rules and regulations allowed any age child (baby?) to ride on the big waterslide with an adult. Tobin and Joshua loved it!!! All of those pics are with Steph (still in the camera?)



After packing it up, we stopped off in Little Rock to hang with our friends and former neighbors. The boys went wild together and we were treated to first rate Southern Hospitality.

Then:
J & E in 2006

Now:
July '09

All and All it was a great trip!! We look forward to more Z family vacations-Hawaii anyone?

Number 6: All American Boys

Welcome to Summer's Memorable Moments 2009, where we count down the craziness!

Fourth of July Fun

Fourth of July has been one of my favorite holiday for years. It's fun to be patriotic and eat yummy food, but also be able to spend it with friends. This year, the boys donned matching shirts as we headed out to our neighborhood party and parade. This is the first year since we've been here they had a parade and competition for decor. We hurriedly slapped some crape paper on Joshua's Big Wheels and Tobin's Cozy Coupe. They didn't do so hot on the parade, but we made it the first 100 feet. Reluctantly, but we made it. (Remind me next year to volunteer to take the pics while Kurt does the parade.) Anyway, Joshua ended up winning a prize, I think it's because he waved his flag continually during the judging. Go Lil JZ. He won a full sized football, which we discovered scares him if you throw it anywhere near his body. Oh well, he could probably still make it as a football player at U of Delaware. My cute goofy boys!

The parade.




After naps, we headed to a friend/coworker's party we we actually let the boys stay up for fireworks. I know, Zeb clan goes wild and crazy! Here's Tobin with friends:

Number 7:Big Brother's Watching You

Welcome to Summer's Memorable Moments 2009, where we count down the craziness!

Why 3 year-olds don't make good babysitters



Showering as a mom can sometimes prove to be difficult. But when you throw in kid number 2, they turn into a precious commodity. Gym mornings aren't an issue because I can shower when both boys are taking their afternoon nap. But if we are planning a morning out and about or meeting up with friends, it sure is nice to be clean, with make-up and hair done. So, the adventure begins. Since Tobin stopped taking a morning nap, it has worked pretty well to set Joshua up with a movie and Tobin with toys in the bathroom. However, given his recent fascination with the toilet and ability to turn the garden tub water on, it's become how-fast-can-I-shower-while-saying "NO Tobin" over-and-over.

On one of these mornings, Tobin was playing very contently with the train table and Joshua was watching something (educational, of course). I hated to remove Tobin and pin him in the bathroom, so I asked Joshua if he would be willing to watch out for him. Joshua nodded his cute little head at me and went back to watching his show. I reminded him to come get me if there were any problems. Again, a head nod. So off I went. After taking what probably turned into a long shower, lost in the peace of the moment, I turned off the water and could immediately hear Tobin SCREAMING. I rushed out expecting to find Joshua torturing him. Tobin, poor kid, had his arm stuck in a kitchen chair and couldn't move. Joshua was still glued to his TV show, apparently completely CLUELESS that his brother was in a state of peril. My exasperated comment to him about his lack of care for his brother was met with a blank stare and a "huh?" Completely clueless. And that my friends, is why 3 year-olds don't make good babysitters.

Number 8: We've got moves you've never seen before

Welcome to Summer's Memorable Moments 2009, where we count down the craziness!


Here at the ranch we love to crank the tunes and do a little jiving. The boys take after their daddy with their funky dance moves. The best is when they can find things to accessories, like daddy's clean clothes in the below pictures.







Here's a compilation of a few dance parties this summer.

Number 9: It's a Jungle Out There!

Welcome to Summer's Memorable Moments 2009, where we count down the craziness!

JAMBO! I said, "JAMBO!"
The first half of the summer was filled with preparations for our church's Vacation Bible School. I stepped into the role of director in mid-May and can say I had NO idea how much work it would be. It was worth every minute though! Our safari theme led kids on a prayer journey through the Lord's Prayer, which taught them five attibutes of God. God listens, cares, forgives, protects, and rules. The fun thing about this process is our church currently does not have it's own building, but a generous member offered their home. This meant lots of extra planning on the facility part (how many port-a-john's does a group of 70 kids and 20 adults need?) Our host was fabulous in finding ways to keep the crew cool in the 100+ heat we had been having most of the summer. I got to work with some great ladies in the church that took on coordinating the different centers (crafts, games, snacks, etc.) It really was a great week. I have a TON of great pics to give you a feel for the week, but I guess I shouldn't post pics of kids without permission. So, here's us and some no face pics :)
Joshua had an absolute ball and still talks about it often and asks to listen to the music.
Tobin got to hang out in the worker's nursery for most of the week. I think he cried a lot. He's over it now though.
One of the fun duties for the week was to blow the airhorn for transition to the next activity. Those things are loud. This is me blowing it in Kobi's ear. Just kidding. Kobi was my sidekick through the process-she kept us on track and was my sounding board for everything. Poor girl.

The entire experience was one of a ton of learning. I have a whole new appreciation for the work that goes into church events, and especially all the work our pastor and his wife do for us all. To be under such stess and still maintain a positive and joyful attitude is one that can only be done when allowing God's Spirit to reign!

Blog-o-rama

Top five reasons I never blog anymore:

5) Does anyone still read blogs?
4) My pictures are unorganized & for some reason I can't blog and post pictures with my photos disorganized.
3) My desk is so messy it's hard to imagine doing something productive in this space. (oh, wait, is blogging productive?)
2) Too many brain cells needed. I have to save those for really important times like when both kids are screaming at once.
1) Facebook satisfies the need to send something witty into cyberspace and it only takes 2 minutes.

But here I am, blogging. I had planned the 2nd annual Zeb Daily Grind Summer's Memorable Moments for labor day weekend and have been procrastinating. But now that it straight up feels like winter outside right now, there's no more room to push back those summer memories. So, here it is!! In an attempt to catch up, I'll be posting each day this week. Happy for me, this summer wasn't filled with the "Mommy's Worst Moments" or public poop explosions of last year. But hopefully you'll enjoy it none the less.

Without further ado...

Number 10: The search for perfection is on...

We began the summer with what we hoped would be the start of Joshua's Olympic swimming career. He did fine. By the end he was putting his face in the water and kicking to move forward, however he did not display any stellar natural swimming abilities. So on to the next sport...gymnastics. We figured since the kid is always jumping, hanging, and rolling he'd love it.

Welch's Jams up our trip to NYC

Several months back we created a Welch's video in win a trip to New York. (Go here to see it) We finally got the official word today that we did not win (we kinda figured that out already.) It was so kind of them to send me a lovely coupon for a free jar of Jam. I'm sure it will be almost as good a free trip to New York.

You can view the winning entry at Welch's web site. They also have their top ten favorites. Ours apparently was not one of their favorites. I mean who wouldn't want to see a family of five adults singing an extra jazzy version of the peanut butter jelly song over adorable, superhero boys?

I've always like Smuckers better anyway.

Watch what you wish for...

Cause you just might get it all. and more.

Friday night I went out with friends for dinner to break free from motherhood. Of course, that means preparing dinner for everyone beforehand. As I drove with a friend, we rolled our eyes at how helpless our hubbies are without us. That's when I made the statement, "I wish I could be "incapacitated" for a few days so Kurt would have to do everything." I actually used the word, "incapacitated" but what I meant was out of pocket. You know, girls weekend, or an all expenses-paid week at the spa. Something fun, I didn't really mean incapacitated.

Well, I got my wish, just in time for Mother's Day. The chance to lay in bed helpless for three days with a stomach virus. It's crazy, but I actually missed serving my family, loving on my boys, and even doing laundry. So I wanted Kurt to have a greater appreciation for what I do all the time, but apparently, I'm the one who needed to appreciate it more.

Kurt stepped up to the plate and took care of everything and everyone. Joshua would pop in every once in a while to ask how I was feeling and if I needed anything. He also brought me a Mother's Day Card he made a church. He presented it to me and said, "Happy Modder's Day" and then showed me his "rolie polie," which was actually a dead mill bug. He asked if I wanted it, so I asked if it was my Mother's Day gift. His sweet, little face lit up and he exclaimed, "yeah!"

Day two of being confined to my room brought a big pity party where I was the host, guest of honor, and only attendee. I am the most miserable, woe-is-me sick person. (Kurt says everyone is that way, but he sure doesn't seem like it when he's sick...) Joshua barged in on my pity party and thought coloring might make me feel better. So he ran off and brought back a picture from Sunday school the day before. Of Silas and Paul singing praises in prison. Talk about a piece of humble pie.

So God has certainly put me in my place this week. I'm thankful we have a God that cares enough to give us lessons in life. Even if he has to use a stomach virus to get his point across.

A Belated Happy Birthday!

Saturday was Kurt's birthday, we celebrated with a couple friends and of course birthday cake! Happy Birthday Sweetheart!I guess I should have told him to smile?

This is what happens when the three year old controls the sprinkles.

Bluebonnet time once again

Tradition in central Texas states that you must take pictures of your kids in the bluebonnets each spring. Buddy Mike (as in Mike from Riverhome Photography!) took ours a couple of weeks ago. It's always so fun to see what he caught on the camera. Give him a holler for some great family or kid pics-I think there are still plenty of bluebonnets out there to be squished for the perfect photo!

Finding the perfect one...

Mr. GQ

Joshua's actually sharing by putting a bluebonnet in his pocket...

This Joshua posing himself. Seriously. He must get all that cheese from his Dad.

We're going to frame this one for the grandmas for Mother's Day.

Random Confessions

1) The first confession really needs to be said. I've been feeling bad about it for a while. It's time to tell the truth. I've been cheating on the blog world. With Facebook. I'm not ashamed anymore. The first week was so bad I forgot to look at anyone's blog for two days. It's been fun, but I'm ready to get back to blogging.




2) We are in month 9 of potty training Joshua, and it's not over yet. And that's all I can say about that right now.

3) I have a skinned knee and elbow from falling while running Monday night. Training has begun once again for the Danskin Triathlon. The irony? I fell in the exact same spot two years ago when I was training. Time to fix the sidewalk?



4) I haven't sent out thank you notes for Tobin's birthday that was 3 1/2 weeks ago. (maybe I should be doing that instead of blogging?) What kind of Southern girl am I?We had lots of fun celebrating with The Very Hungry Caterpillar theme from Eric Carle's book. We figured it fit well since much of Tobin's first year was spent eating and eating and then spitting up. We had all the food that the caterpillar munched on (well most of it anyway). Lots of fun!

5) 2009 is the year of unfinished projects. I am currently finishing a valence for the living room. One was finished and hung 3 YEARS AGO.

6) Tobin's been screaming in his crib and can no longer be ignored.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

When you are young on St. Patrick's Day you go to the local pub to celebrate. When you are a mom you go get your picture with a traditional Irishman at the local Walgreens! It was a little wild and crazy though since he offered to prove to me that he was traditional in his wearing of the kilt. (You'll have to figure that one out yourself)

Happy Birthday Tobin!

Tobin is sleeping soundly right now as a big one year old! There was going to be a slideshow of pics from the last year to post today, but I'm just going to be happy I'm getting a few pics up at all!


A year ago today:Ready to conquer the world now? Maybe just the playground...



Mom Mom is in town to visit so we went to the Cameron Park Zoo today. Mimi and Papa come into town tomorrow for a celebration this weekend!

Happy Birthday Pumpkin!

Time to Rock the Vote

I was going to say Jam the Vote, but it seemed a little to punny.
We recently made a "film" with our friends Mike, Jodi, and Abe (with Dexter) and entered it in a contest for Welch's Jelly. There's a trip to NYC and moola up for grabs.. We had lots of fun making it and hope you will have fun watching it. We also hope you will vote 5 Jars of Jelly for us. The top ten rated videos/pics will go before an official judging panel, so we need your vote!

To vote, Click Here. This should bring you straight to our video. Watch it (of course!). Click "Rate This" under the jelly jars and give us a 5 (of course!). We'd love your comments as well. The title is "The Welch's Wonderboys."2/23/09 The Voting for the video on the Welch's/Food Network site is now over. Thanks for all who voted-the official judging will be on or around 3/25. If you missed the video you can see it here:

Thanks Friends!

11 months and counting

Tobin is 11 months old today-wow! The past two months have been amazing with respect to growth and development. Here's a little time line of his big moments:
Dec 11: First tooth
Dec 18: Second tooth
Dec 21: Third tooth
Dec 23: Fourth tooth-Lucky for us the first one was the only one that seemed to bother him!
Dec 25: Started trying to pull up on the train table from Santa
Dec 30: Successful pulled up on coffee table
Jan 2: First sign language, Signed "more"
Jan 11: Clapped hands
Jan 18: Took first step-toward the train table :)
Jan 19: Waved goodbye
Jan 28: Walked across living room with walker
This is Tobin after the whole bedtime routine, after being prayed over and kissed goodnight, covered with a blanket and whispered "I love You's." Apparently it's much more fun to stand and play than to sleep.
Jamming with buddy Oliver. They aren't allowed in the garage unsupervised, so they are a living room band instead of a garage band.

In my determination to make sure Tobin gets a lot of attention though he is the second, I have neglected the first born. He/We are doing an Itty Bitty Sports Class to learn some basics in Soccer, Football, "Baseball" (Tee Ball) and Basketball. It is really fun to have a gym with 6 3&4 year olds, who all have their own ball, and try to get them to follow basic directions. I have a new name for the next class: Itty Bitty Torture. Okay, it's not that bad. I have had to work really hard to adjust my expectations and relax. Joshua has gotten better at following the directions as well. He is actually putting to use some of his moves. Hopefully I will get some pictures next week.
He is also doing really well at learning the alphabet and counting. He was using some stencils the other day and told me he had written his name. When I looked at the board it said, "W W Stud." Maybe that's what he wants to be called these days?







Here's a video with some of Tobin's latest moves. There's even a crazy Elvis in there. As usual, ignore my high-pitched mommy's excited voice.