Christmas at Sea World

Well folks, once again the infamous sweater, ha. Don't worry I wash it but have worn the heck out of it this season. Some of the pics are really blurry but Sea World during Christmas was so much fun. The fam got together a little before Christmas and stayed on the River Walk with my brother's family and my mother. It wasn't cheap and my mom paid for the hotel stay and all of our dinners, thanks mom.

We had a great time, I think the best time because we pretty much spent all our time together. It was so much fun. We ate great food and walked around and just hung out. I think it was the best Christmas I have had in a long time, although I wish my dad was here.

Every morning I woke up and went running on the river walk and SA has done so much work expanding the river walk, it is so nice now. Fred even went running with me one day, he usually doesn't run, he does Crossfit. It was so funny, we started running and he was at a pretty brisk pace and saying hello to all the people we would pass. I was thinking, oh dear, I am going to die at this pace but I kept up. When we past the 3.5 marker, I looked over and said do you want to go further and then turn around, he looked at me like he was about to die and sweating profusely, ha. So we headed back to the hotel and no more hello's to the people we passed, all I heard was heavy breathing. Half way back he said I could run without him but he didn't stop and we pushed thru and made it back in one piece, ha.

I can run until the cows come home but I have no upper body strength so I know I couldn't do Crossfit, I know I cannot even do a pull up and I don't know when the last time I did a push up.

The weather in SA was so nice, not to cold. The kids always have a great time at Sea World and the lights were amazing.

Me, my mom and my brother with his son, Parker. I wish we could spend more time with my brother and his family but they live near Washington, DC. Christmas is the one time we all get together and I really cherish the time we can spend together.

Don't know what Fred was doing growing a beard and looking like the Unabomber, ha.

What has been happening in the Different household? We are completely done with the remodel of our home and now it is on the market, boo hoo. It is so nice now, I don't want to leave. I love our little cul de sac, because all our neighbors have kids close to Harlowe's age and they all come out and play together and just hang out. It is so nice because I think Harlowe really likes having friends her age to hang out with. Our neighbors are really nice too, I really wouldn't know because Dustin is the social butterfly and he is the one who watches the kids outside and hangs with the neighbors. To my defense though, I am usually working or sleeping.

We have had tons of showings and one low ball offer. I have to admit it I really don't want to move and I am hoping to stay there a little longer. And it has been really nice because Dustin has been doing all the cleaning and staging so I have not had to clean this week, so nice to get a break.

Kemah Boardwalk

I cannot believe it has been three weeks since my last post, time is slipping by. These pics are from last year in the fall but in Texas it is still blazing hot until November. 

These pics are so old but better late than never, Harlowe is such a character now and a chatter box. She will talk your ear off, just like her daddy. I did pull her out of the Montessori school and now she is attending Goddard School which she loves and Dustin and I really like her teachers. They really show a special interest in her. 

She is attending three days a week and only half days. We put Tryst in the same school for about a couple of months but it was too hard on him and too hard on the wallet, ha. So Dustin is taking care of him during the days when I work. 

We just bought hooked on Phonics for the kids, I really like it so far. It is just finding the time to work with both of them is a challenge. Harlowe is doing well in school starting to write and recognize letters and numbers. We are constantly working with her and some Montessori schools said their kids start reading when they are three, yikes. 

I am not worried about it because both of the kids love to read and Harlowe really enjoys learning new things. Trysten now loves books and you could sit and read to him for hours. He loves repetition because he will only watch one movie in the car, Ice Age. Which becomes a little annoying, I try to play different movies but he will just cry and point at the Ipad. He also wants to read the same book over and over. 

I am not complaining because he loves the My Baby Can Read books. Can you tell I am a little obsessed about educational things. 

Tryst is starting to talk more and repeats what you say. He loves to say, "hi da da", he even calls me da da. He is such a momma's boy, he always wants me and always wants me to hold him. He is still very opinionated and throws the most awful fits. 

I remember taking him and Harlowe to Chick fil a and being the nice mom I am, got him an ice cream cone. He is so independent and does not want your help but I did not want him holding the ice cream himself because of course, he would make a mess. Big mistake, he threw a fit and started yelling and turning red, my armpits started sweating because people were looking at me like what the hell is going on. He grabbed the ice cream off the cone and threw it on the ground, so embarrassing. 

Harlowe and I went on this ride but it was so jerky, she did not have fun and I think I got whip lash.

The fam near the merky waters of the ocean.

Me and the hubs

Tryst on the train and don't ask me why he is barefoot, kinda trashy but it was hot, ha.

Christmas with the Different's

Dustin's mom hates taking pics, she always runs from me but I got her, ha. 

Dustin's dad and Tryst, he is unwrapping a inch worm you sit on.

Harlowe got a doll with a bunch of different outfits. Both Tryst and Harlowe got this cool electric car from Dustin's uncle and brother, it is a two seater so both kiddos can ride in it. I haven't snapped a pic of it yet.

Dustin's uncle and grandfather looking excited, ha

Cleaning up, sorry about the outfit, looking back, I think I have this outfit on in every post. It is pretty comfortable and I do have clothes but comfort wins over fashion now these days.

Tryst got this huge car track thing, I think it is as tall as him.

Christmas table setting at Dustin's parents house. We had prime rib, which is a family tradition and I was told it was cooked to perfection. I stuck with the salad, apple and blue cheese, yum. Dustin and the kiddos spent the night at his parents house the night before because I had to work, and when I got there Dustin was a little tired. Dustin and his uncle cooked the whole meal while Dustin parents watched the kiddos.

They did a pretty good job, everything was excellent.

Dustin and I were so far apart, he was running back and forth to get the camera perfect.

Harlowe, a little tired of the picture taking, ha

We had a great Christmas, laid back and relaxed. Dustin's uncle came in town and he got to spend a couple of days hanging out.

Everyone was so generous, so Dustin and I had a lot of money burning a whole in our pocket. The dummy that I am told Dustin it was okay to finish remodeling our house. Big mistake on my part, I know I asked him about twenty times how much it would cost and went back and forth looking at our account and our Christmas money. Little did I know he fibbed about the total cost. So I gave the okay and if you know Dustin, once he gets something in his head there is no stopping him.

I thought we could plan the remodel around my schedule because of course I sleep during the day so I thought we would do it in a month or two. Wrong, the next week Miguel, Dustin's go to contractor, was taking out tile and busting down walls.

What did I get myself in? It is finally over, but to me, total hell. Somehow in my elder years, ha, I have become Type A and even a little obsessive. I am not the cleanest or most organized but I need my space to be in some kind of order and clean to my standards, which Dustin says is not that clean.

My house was turned upside down and you would have thought a dust storm hit. It was down right awful. I know I sound like a baby but having two small children and being confined to the upstairs is not fun. We were getting a little stir crazy and I was the biggest BIT--.

Dustin handled it in stride, and he put up with my craziness. My mother flew in two weeks straight to help us, thank the lord because I would have really lost it if she wasn't there. And I did lose it a couple of times. Although now that it is over, I so glad to get my house in order again. Dustin is at home cleaning thank the lord because I did not want to have anything to do with it. Has something been so overwhelming you just don't know where to start? That is how I felt about cleaning, luckily Dustin is so focused he is doing it all.

Now that it is over, it is on to the next for Dusty, we are putting our house on the market probably in February. Not looking forward to moving but he is telling me this is our last flip. Thank the Lord, we aren't the Novegratz, ha.

If you don't know who they Novegratz are, they have like six kids and flip high end houses and buildings and look fabulous while doing it.  I don't know how they do it with all those kiddos but that ain't me. I will have to post some pics after we get the house in order.

Lost Circus Pics

I am trying to catch up on the blog so I am posting a bunch of lost pics I found on the computer. I could not tell you when these were, sometime in the summertime. Dustin and I took Harlowe to her first circus and she really enjoyed it. Dustin's parents were so nice to watch Tryst for us because we knew he wouldn't sit still throughout the whole thing. 

We had a great time because we made a date of it, we went to one of our fave Mexican food restaurant's, Hugo's, they have the best margarita's. We sat at the bar with Harlowe and had margarita's and dips, my absolute fave. Harlowe even had a virgin margarita. 

Dustin and I were feeling pretty good after dinner and were off to the circus. I thought it was much cooler when I was little, but I guess the kiddos enjoy it. We were on the front row and let me tell you those tickets were not cheap. I thought the circus was much cheaper but what do I know, ha. 

All and all we had fun but I think Cirque du Soleil spoiled Dustin and I, ha. 

Outside of the Reliant Center, home of the Texans, whoop, whoop. Just kidding our family doesn't watch a lot of football but the Texans are doing pretty good this year.

I guess Dustin's pics were a lot better because I cut the bulls faces off, oops.

I hope everyone had a great New Year, I was a big party pooper and wanted to stay at home and rest. Dustin always calls me a granny but I am getting up there, the big 40 in a couple of years, so a girl's got to rest, ha.

I only had two days off so my New Year's Eve consisted of cleaning and doing the laundry and taking a nap with the kiddos. I was thinking to myself while folding clothes, is this what my new year is going to consist of, ha?

The fam had a pretty great day though, we had left over fireworks from the Fourth, so Dustin wanted us to light it up but the one's he bought were so loud both Harlowe and Trysten started crying and I almost jumped out of my Ugg's, ha. Dustin said we were wussy so poor Dustin was out there by himself lighting fireworks, ha.

Later we ordered Vietnamese food, yum, and watched two boring movies that I fell asleep during. But woke up to a kiss from my hubby at midnight. All in all I had a great New Year's Eve and need to think of some New Year's Resolutions.