It's a zoo out there!

Thursday was a real treat for Avery & Austin. Mimi and Popo took the day off to take them to the Houston Zoo. This was their first zoo trip and I don't think they fully understood what they would be seeing until they got there. When they got home I think I was more excited than they were, but they were pretty exhausted. From their reports, they really liked the elephant, giraffe, big fish and pink flamingos. They seemed to get a kick out of the elephant pooping on the grass... big highlight. The train ride around the park was a big hit for Austin. Mimi & Popo said A&A did real well all day, never really wanted to be held... that was a worry of mine.

THANKS Mimi & Popo for the zoo trip. Avery & Austin loved it!

Blog books!!!

This post in primarily for my fellow bloggers, but it may help those of you debating whether to start a blog or not make a decision. I found this site today: http://www.blurb.com/create/book/blogbook You can turn your blog posts into a book... a memory book. I am SOOO excited. I have been meaning to print of my pages so that the updates are somewhere besides cyberspace, but never have. I am definitely doing this one day. It will be great for the kids! You all may know about this already, but if not, I hope you are excited as me.
Happy Saturday. Summer is here... hot, hot, hot!

Ms Betty....

Today was the last day I dropped off kids at Ms. Betty's, aka Meme. Betty Wiesepape has watched all 3 kids their first year. How blessed we have been to have her! She has been so good to us and our kids! We will miss her, but I can honestly say I won't miss making 2 stops in the morning. Next Monday all 3 kids start St Pauls. It will be bittersweet.... so excited for them the be there, but so sad that our babies are growing up!

Memorial Day Weekend

We had a very low key Memorial Day weekend. It's nice to be home, but at the same time it can wear on ya. Below are a few pics from the weekend. Friday Wes set up the tent and he and Austin actually stayed in there Sunday night. There's another pic of Austin learning to steer the mower with Wes.
The other pics are from supper at Toppe & Grandpa's. Grandpa Otto had birthday and we had dinner tonight to celebrate. Grandpa loves to cook ribs so that was on the menu along with some fresh veggies. I love the pic of Austin & Gpa playing baseball.... he loves baseball and I hope it's soemthing Austin enjoys doing with him.

Body Art???

Avery & Austin came home today with their end of the year school supplies: crayons, glue, paint, Oh no... paint! They were water colors, but still... paint. So of course Austin started going through his bag just as we were getting home and found... paint. "Mama, I wanna paint, Mama, I wanna paint.. MAMA, I wanna paint." "OK, Austin you can paint." In my mind I am thinking... it's just water colors. So I got out a giant piece of paper to cover their small outdoor table and let them have it. Wes was outside messing around and I went inside to start getting things unpacked from the day and get supper started. When I came back out, this is what I found:

Last day of the 2's class...

Today was Avery & Austin's last day in Ms. Ginger's 2's class at First Baptist. We celebrated with a trip to Fireman's Park which included the carousel. A&A were going to "school" twice a week from 8-11:30am. Ginger was great with the kids and Natalie, the teacher aide, was amazing as well. We will really miss them. I have decided that when Caleb starts a school day care in June, that all 3 will be making a new start at St. Paul's. It will be a transition for everyone. I am super excited about only making one stop in the mornings... I may actaully get to work on time!?!?

Ms. Ginger & Ms. Natalie's 2's (this is 2 classes combined in 1pic)

Home Sweet Home

I was in the store today and ran across a friend I hadn't seen in a while, but she let me know she kept up with us by reading the blog. We talked for a bit and some how it was brought up that I should post a pic of our house... she knew we had built about a year ago and was wondering how everything turned out. So here it is for those of you who may be interested:

The house sits on top of a hill on our 10 acres. We moved in just over a year ago... love it! We took our time planning it knowing we will be here the rest of our lives. It's no palace or mansion, but it fits us just right. It's got a very open floor plan, 4 bedrooms. It's already had it's share of nicks and bruises... to be expected with 3 toddlers. We have grand plans for an outdoor kitchen under the breezeway and a rock patio, but that will come with time and most likely won't begin until the kids start public school.... no more daycare fees. As you can see there's not much landscaping outside, that is our summer project. We just got stone columns put in at the entrance so we are slowly working on that project as well. Always something!!!

What was I thinking????

So, my kids miss out on what many kids do on a weekly basis... riding in a shopping cart. Big trips to HEB, Wal-Mart runs, and just the occasional run into Walgreens are usually done alone on my lunch hour or just before I get the kids from school. If I have the opportunity to just take one kid with me, I try to do that so they can see what the grocery store is all about, but taking all 3 is just asking for my stress levels to elevate way above "normal". Well, this afternon when I picked the kids up from school, I was determined to make a trip with all 3 to Wal-Mart for a few groceries. Let me make a quick side note... I hate Wal-Mart and before kids I only went there on a "have to" basis. Now I just don't have anyway around it. Back to story, without going into too much detail, here are a few things that occured on our trip...
- I needed to get 1 loaf of bread, Avery & Austin both felt they needed to hold a loaf so I walked out the store with 2
-Caleb managed to get the top off of a Yoplait yogurt and started to eat it with his fingers. He threw a huge fit when I tried to take it away so instead of having "that kid" in the store I let him make an absolute mess
- Avery & Austin got to pick out a toy for staying dry all day on Wednesday. Austin wanted a firetruck and he got a firetruck. Avery wanted a baby doll and we went through a princess doll, princess shoes, a flower sprinkler and a pink pool float before going back to the baby doll and new doll stroller.
- As I was headed to check out and had EVERYTHING on the counter to be checked out, the cashier told me she couldn't check out any alcohol, so the beer and bottle of wine had to be checked out else where. What the %#%$... get someone over to my line who can check out the alochol.
- We finally made it to the car after going to the express checkout for the alcohol. Caleb still had the yogurt and as I took it away and removed his shirt since it was covered with sticky yogurt, he threw a fit.... he was "that kid", but since we were in the parking lot not many people heard him.
- I got home and realized I was missing a bag... I really needed that milk.

This is why I DON'T attempt shopping trips with them.

News worth reporting...

Avery & Austin went to school in panties & underwear and stayed dry ALL day. Big day in the Maurer household!!!!

Top 4 reasons I love being a mom

1. Austin


2. Avery

3. Caleb

4. Family

Mother's Day trip to Rockdale

On Saturday, we made a trip to Rockdale to my grandparents farm for some good ol' tank fishing and a bbq. Tank fishing is what I remember growing up.... bait a hook, throw it out, grab a lawn chair and your book and watch until the cork goes under. Of course with 3 kids, there is no sitting involved. Austin was really the only one interested in fishing. Avery preferred to hang around the truck and Caleb just wandered around. It turned out to be a really good day because all of the cousins on my mom's side showed up and we haven't gotten together like that at the farm in a long time. Dad bbq'd ribs and sausage and we were able to enjoy the day, even if it was a bit warm. Needless to say, the kids slept hard all the way home.

Austin reeling in a big one!

Like father, like son....

Grandpa & Caleb

Caleb checking out the cows. He wasn't so sure about them. Notice Austin on the far right... he wanted nothing to do with those "stinky" cows.

My big catch of the day! I actually threw a rod out a time or two and this was my big catch.

I love this picture! The boys were taking a break and riding on the gator. The structure on the left is an old house that was on the farm when they land was purchased.

This picture is significant in that the kids are so close to a dog... even if it's little. They are not dog fans, but I think we may slowly be overcoming this fear. This is Izzy and she came to the farm with my cousin. I bet she was glad when we left!

Our moms......

We are TRULY BLESSED to have two amazing women in our lives and especially blessed to have them living in the same town with us. I can't imagine not having them around to help out with the kids.... As I was growing up, I remember giving my mom cards and thanking her for all she did for me, but it's not until I became a mom that I realized what ALL she truly did for me.
Some people may find this kind of weird, but our moms really do get along and enjoy doing things together, which is pretty cool in my books. They are so different, yet a lot alike. Thank you Barbara (Mimi) and Thana (Toppe) for all you do for us... we love you!



We went out to eat at airport last night... here's the crew watching a place get ready for take off.

Maifest

When you live in Brenham, you know that Mother's Day weekend also means Maifest. There are mixed feelings about the event among Brenhamites.... some diehards and others who could care less about the German festival. I will keep my feelings to myself, but I am sure our kids will one day be riding on a float in an adorable (hideous?) costume. We managed to find a fairly good spot on the courthouse lawn in the shade to watch the parade.

Must have been a good float...

Austin doesn't like the loud fire truck noises so he covered his ears!

Wes & Avery

For those of you who have no clue of what Maifest is about, here is the "royalty" float with the king and queen (this year they had 2). It can get pretty elaborate....

At the car wash...

Wes & the kids washed and cleaned my car on Sunday.... it needed it! Wes also took out all the carseats so we could wash the covers. You should have seen the crumbs that had fallen through the cracks. There was at least a 2 day supply of snacks - fruit snacks, crackers, pieces of waffle, chex mix....

So many things wrong about this picture.... why is my daughter naked? Why is she holding a dead bird? We had a group of black birds starting to roost in one of the trees in the backyard and Wes took matter into his own hands by shooting at them and hitting one. Avery thought it was quite cool to carry it around. Don't worry, we fully washed and sanatized everything after handling the bird... rip.

Austin is following Wes who is doing his afternoon routine... He loves to help out his dad.

Avery on the other hand prefers to be inside "helping"me get supper ready.

One of my new favorite pics of Caleb.... love those baby blues.

Won't be long before we are picking the garden. Onions and potatoes are almost ready. Love the taste of fresh veggies! The older I get the more appreciative I am of having a garden. Wes does most of the work.....

Sip N See

Today we had a Sip N See for the newest Maurer member - Jaxon Ryle Schramm. He was born back in March and this was just a chance for some family and friends to get to meet the little guy in person. I love brunch events, such girly foods.... the mimosas weren't too bad either!

Jaxon Ryle Schramm

Big sister - Kennedy

Proud mama!

Avery checking out Jaxon. No, Avery, you cannot have a new baby brother....

Jaxon & Jerri

Wes has one more night away fishing so the kids and I managed to have a fairly nice afternoon at home. Due to the kids nap schedule, we didn't make it out to the Ice Cream Festival in town, but I guess there is always next year. We did manage to load up and go visit Mimi for a little bit this evening. She whipped up potatoes... the ones that the kids devour even though they barely touch the ones I make.

Avery reading books to her baby dolls.