bullets. Aren't you thrilled.

• I'm sorry. I don't have anything of depth to write about. Bullets are my only option.
• I just ate cuponoodles for dinner and it was wonderful. I love to eat that when i'm by myself watching tv. I feel very... me. I don't know...
• I took mason to Crockett today so he could see the buildings and such. I almost cried and he was thrilled at the size of the cafeteria and playground.
• I have so many pictures to edit my head is spinning. The good part is there are quite a few good ones. The bad part is there are quite a few good ones.
• I miss my tan.
• I have found the desk I want for my office. I won't ever see it in this room as it is from pottery barn and costs, well, a lot more than any furniture I'll ever own.
• I seriously have nothing to say.
• I bought the best cantaloupe of my life today. Told you I have NOTHING to say.
• Okay. I'm done trying. I should have just not bothered! Geez. If you're still reading, sorry to have put you through this.

just to be fair.

Here's a few for you Mari! I adore tons of the shots we got so I couldn't wait to show you too!

For you, A.

I don't have your email address since my school email is now gone. And I'm leaving town and I wanted you to see at least one or two pictures so, here are two for ya. I hope they will make you smile.

uh, wow.

So today I ran to heb for random things.
I happened to pause a moment too long in front of the Ice Cream section.
I purchased a pint of Ben & Jerry's "half baked" ice cream.

wow.

You know, I realize it doesn't take much to get me excited about food, but this is something good here people.

"chocolate and vanilla ice creams mixed with Fudge Brownies and Gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough."

wow.

It's just nice when something kicks the tail out of your expectations.

wow.

New Pictures.

If you're bored, there's some new pictures up on sprinkle. They're family shots.

In case you can't tell, the feet shot is my little signature thing...good? yes? no?

I know I'm his mom and all...

but this kid is stinkin' cute!

And now we've come to a screeching halt.

The cleaning. What's good though is that I've kept the rooms that I've cleaned, clean. It's just so refreshing.

I still really want to do the "office" but I don't want to just do it. I want it to well thought out and put together. And I don't want to break the bank. So, I am not moving forward quite yet.

And that's the last time I'll bore you with that until I post pictures of my office ( in like three months).

The rampage has paused.

The garage, laundry room, kitchen, living room, bathroom and grant's room are pretty perfect. But now I've stalled out. The green room is still cluttery and our bedroom is downright shameful.

I've had a sort of photography slam here lately. I'm too much of a perfectionist when it comes to editing and making slideshows. I take way way way too long on them. And if someone pays for the 75 package, it says they get 15 edited images. I have never given someone less than 30. Anyway, all this photography stuff has put the rampage on a brief pause.

The green room that I want to be transformed into a lovely office is coming together quite nicely...in my head. But I haven't actually done anything to it. I have vision. But little time and even less money.

I have decided on gray. I think I'm going to "style it up" with a few magenta-ish accents. And some black and some silver and some purple and some turquoise. Wow. That sounds terrifying. But it won't be. I want it to be artsy cool. Sleekly feminine. Inspiring. Simple. Fun. me.

I have a cool idea for the picture display. Well, it's cool in my head....

Are you sick of hearing about something this boring? Sorry...

Back to work. See, it would be silly to have a fancy office if my photography business flops because customers never get their pictures because I just blogged about the fancy office that I would use to edit the pictures....

Oh, and seph. I am desperately wanting to get rid of the lockers. I'll PAY anyone, literally pay someone to take them away. Anyone. Please. come take them. now. please. I beg of you.

Okay, so two seconds later...

It's back to normal. That's so bizarre. Somebody's messing with me out in blogspot world...

Uh....?

What happened to my running blog? It's all weird and different and I didn't change it. Blogger better stop messing with me. I liked the orange. What could be going on....? Weird...

the rampage continues.

I accidentally posted just the title of this, then went to write it, then got distracted and forgot. Hence the title only post that a few of you might have seen called "the rampage continues." Sorry for the confusion.

Yesterday I detailed the kitchen. It's heavenly now.
Today it's the bathroom and the boys' rooms.
Tomorrow it's our bedroom.
My goal is to be cleaning out the motherlode(that's how they spell it in lous lamour books) of clutter that resides in my craft room by Thursday.
Because on Friday, I am going to reward myself by turning this room of hodge podge-ness into a sleek cool fun office for my photography business. (and still have a space for crafting.)

Here's my vision:

• New paint because right now the room is lime green. LIME green. And bright blue. It's a bit much. I don't know what the new color will be - possibly gray? Is that depressing?
• A new desk - I am hoping to find a table-ish desk that's simple and plain that I can repaint. (because it will obviously have to come from a garage sale or something)
• A craft table with cutely painted pegboard above it holding my plethora of crafting junk.
• A new shelf that's not ugly like the one now.
• And the one I'm most excited about - a photo wall. I want a wall or two in my room to be covered in pictures that I love - either that I have taken or that I have found. I don't know HOW though....that's the tricky part. I have to do this whole room CHEAP. So i need something super duper cheap. I can't be framing a hundred pictures. I can't buy twenty decorator shelves. So...what to do? Ideas?

Hi!

Grant has learned how to wave. Yesterday I wasn't sure, but today, he's got it.

It's not fool proof, but almost anytime you say "HI!" all high and happy, he sticks out his chubby arm and closes his fat little fist and opens it. And then he grins so big. We said hi to everyone today. It's just so adorable.

When he did the first time, Mason said very matter-of-factly, "Grant's finally growing up."

two, no, three things.

1. The garage is clean. The laundry room is a masterpiece. Tomorrow I hit the kitchen and Living Room. Troy has nicknamed me Ruthie the ruthless (I think that's him just mocking my new era post...) and Mason keeps asking when we're having the garage sale. Apparently they're a blast.
2. Grant is totally and completely crawling and pulling up on everything. And I think, i think, he's figuring out how to wave and maybe say mama and dada...
3. Mason started crying today over his hair. He was trying to gel up the front but not the top apparently and it wasn't working. He storms into my room with red eyes, a grimace and balled up fists and says, "I just can't get it to do what I want!" He's five. Adolescence is going to be a true joy. Dear me.

a new era.

I'm stuck.
I haven't accomplished anything this summer.
Well, okay, maybe that's not entirely true. I have done a few photo shoots and started this whole running thing, but that's just about it.
I feel like I am in a constant state of vacation. I find it easy to put off cleaning because there's no one coming over. I don't want to work on projects around the house because I feel like I have no money. I haven't worked on school stuff with mason because, well, he's difficult and I get frustrated. And I haven't scrapbooked, sewed, painted, decorated, gardened, cooked...at all like i thought I would with the new found joy of being a stay at home mom. And I can't blame that on my kids. They're ridiculously easy right now. Grant takes two very good predictable naps a day and Mason self entertains most of the time.
So, the problem lies right here with me. oh, how I hate that.

I have discovered that I am a routine craving individual. I think that is perhaps one reason i liked teaching. The routine of it - every minute was set in stone.

Anyway, the point of this long rambling, ridiculously boring post is that I am ready to start achieving some things. Knocking some big time projects off a to do list that grows with every day.

So, I have a new plan. Are you ready for it?

I'm going to just start doing things.

I KNOW! Isn't that the most brilliant thing you've ever heard? I thought i was a genius when I came up with it too.

Now, more than that, I'm going to have a plan. I'm starting with the decluttering process. I'm talking ruthless. RUTHLESS! It's all going. If I have to think about it, it's in the garage sale pile.

After the ruthless clean out process, it's deep cleaning time. Like selling the house type of cleaning.

Then, and only then, will I allow the fun things to happen. Decorating. Painting rooms. Hanging new pictures. Sewing new curtains. Replacing furniture. My home will be a home I'm proud to invite others into.

During the midst of the three part cleaning plan detailed above, I will have days designated to certain things - laundry day. Cleaning day. Yard day. Grocery/Baking Day. I'm going retro here. I will become June Cleaver. I will do it. I will. I need routine. I need to know my goals when I awake in the morning.

It's time, people. I'm a stay at home mom. It's high time I start acting like one!!!

It's the dawning of a new era!!!

(and yes I did just finish a gigantic mug of stout coffee...)

Negative.

Sometimes in life you just need some negativity. Serious negativity.
You hope for the negative. Pray for it even.
Negative is sometimes a very positive thing.

I just experienced a great moment of negativity.

Thank God.

Blah Busters

Sonic Happy Hour
School Supplies at Target (just imagining them for mason)
blaring music in my car
getting Nancy Drew from Net Flix

I'm having a much better day now. : )

blah

I'm just so very blah today.

I have absolutely NO reason to be so.

I just came back from spending four wonderful days with my best friend. Went to sea world yesterday with my husband and Mason. My house is decently clean...okay, the sink is free of dirty dishes and the clutter is at a minimum, and it's a pretty sunny day.

But I am so very very very blah.



And irritated. At silly things. Like, well, I don't even know what.



I feel lazy.

I feel whiney.

I feel like I need a good kick-in-the-pants.



blah, blah, blah.

Maybe I'll go eat some worms...

Hi from the Kotze Home!

I've been at Kylah's since Saturday evening! Her house is amazingly beautiful! Perfectly Kylah...and a little michael too. : ) We've been working very hard to get them settled in...well, we've lounged around a bit as well...and watched a few movies...and gone to a few stores...and restaurants, but, hey, the kitchen's done so that's all that matters, right?

I've still been running. Their house is in a very hilly neighborhood. I HATE them. But still running. Just timed runs - no designated distances. The San Antonio humidity is almost deadly even at 9am.

I miss my boys, but they're coming tomorrow. Daddy's been with them since I've been gone. I'm sure they're having a blast.

I should go since I'm just stealing their neighbors internet...

grant's learned a new trick.

Yes, he can pull himself to standing. This means he's going to be walking soon and then that will be followed by kindergarten, college and grandchildren.

Things just need to slow down!

What happened to just plain ol' tide?

Okay, seriously, what has happened in the laundry detergent aisle?

How many different types of detergent could we possibly need?

Tide with bleach.
Coldwater tide.
Tide with febreeze.
Tide with downy.
Tide with downy, ocean breeze scent.
Tide for colors.
Tide with colorstay yadablabla.
Tide Dark (it's the nightlife tide.)

And that's just TIDE!


It's just too much people! I can't make these kinds of decisions. I can't have three hundred different bottles of detergent and then try to determine what best suits what clothes. I mean, I can barely get laundry done, let alone decide which of my three million options best suits socks or towels or shirts with stripes or delicates or..... And I highly doubt that there can be that big a difference in the chemical make-up of soap to justify a whole aisle dedicated to laundry detergent.

It's soap, people. Soap.

Every time i buy the stuff I get a different kind and honestly, I don't see much of a difference. I think I'm just gonna start buying that big gigantor box that only men get.

It's soap!

I want a washboard and basin and some good ol' lye soap. Let's simplify!

And that's my, *ahem*, soapbox for the day...

: )

Tidbits

• Grant's almost crawling. I want to say is crawling, because he can, but he just won't. Apparently getting that big belly off the ground for any substantial distance is a struggle. Meanwhile, his shirts are mopping my floor quite nicely...
• Mason's words on Basketball camp: "mom, you should have gone to basketball camp. It was so awesome!" Apparently they yell defense a lot and drink capri suns. No wonder it's a blast.
• Running is going still, which, honestly surprises me. This is two weeks straight. Crazy thing is - I look forward to it. Most days. I am running just under three miles now.
• Having one child for most of the day is much easier than two. But I do miss the other...
• I still haven't finished editing those pictures.
• I'm getting a haircut on Friday. Don't expect to notice. I like it long... : )
• I love that new store maurices by petsmart!
• Today I got a wedding invitation in the mail and inside was a very professional looking wallet sized photo of the couple. I took it! I felt so...so...professional or something. I was beaming. : )
• You know what's a great sound- the dryer going. Just the dryer. Because that means there's not another load going in the washing machine. That's a rare occurrence, my friends.
• I had another mocha masterpiece tonight. I have to say that it wasn't as great as the first. So, save your money friends...or only get one when the guy with dirty blond hair is working. Not the girl with long brown hair. She doesn't do it right.
• Did you know that runners are faster when they drink a cup of coffee about an hour before their run? Yep. So, there's one more reason to continue to feed the addiction
• Leo Manzano. Remember that name. He's from my itty bitty hometown and is going to THE OLYMPICS!!! He's a runner. How cool is that?

Basketball Camp

Mason and troy just left for Basketball camp.
Troy's a coach and mason will be a participant. The camp's actually for 7 and up, but the head coach of the camp said Mason could go.

He was so cute this morning in his long nylon shorts and his sleeveless basketball shirt. He just looked so big and like a boy, all grown up and ready for a day without his momma. And he was sooo excited. I hope he has fun...

So, today, it's just me and Grant until 4pm. I think it's gonna be pretty nice!

Mason.

The boy can talk.
And talk.
And talk.
And talk some more.
And then, wait, yes, he's still talking.
About who knows what.

We read a story every night before bed. That's great and fine when we're reading a picture STORYbook. But his current favorite thing to read at night is one of his assorted books on amphibians and reptiles. Geared towards adults, or at least young adults, they are loaded with text, so of course I dont' read the whole thing. I flip around, summarize, elaborate on pictures, and that in and of itself is a challenge because the kid's got a memory like no other and wants the same thing every time. But that's not the worst part. Mason thinks he's a know-it-all in the field of amphibians and reptilian critters. And so every page comes with a Mason sized oration on what he KNOWS is the truth about that particular critter.

It's a long process, bedtime. But it's a sweet one too. Sweet in a slightly annoying kind of way. : )

Sometimes, when he's just rambling on and on, and I've lost track a while back of what he's even talking about, I'll just imagine his poor kindergarten teacher...poor poor thing.
at least he's stinkin' cute. : )

Editing pictures.

That's what I should be doing. But instead I'm checking me email every five seconds even though no one will email me. I'm reading articles on runnersworld.com, i'm checking blogs repeatedly...I want to go to target for no reason...or hastings or somewhere. I just want to NOT edit these pictures.

It's not that I don't want to edit pictures. It's that I don't want to edit THESE pictures. They're just not that great. So editing them into greatness is impossible and there's a million of them.

eh. I'll get em done.

That's all.

did you enjoy that random, completely boring post?
Yeah, I didn't think so...

Enchanted Rock

As I said, We went to Enchanted Rock and we all, and by all, I do mean Grant too, climbed the mountain. It was quite a trek, let me tell you. Troy CARRIED grant up the entire thing. Not in a back pack carrier, not in a sling, but in his own arms. And for those of you who haven't been to enchanted rock, it's climbs 6/10ths of a mile in 1800 feet. Yeah, that's steep. But we did it. Mason LOVED it. He thought it was the coolest thing ever. We made it up and down in an hour and then picnicked in the shade. I loved it.
The pictures are out of order, but I tried to tell you what was happening in them...

This picture of me was taken by mason. Not too bad, huh?

See that dome in the background - that's what we climbed.

Taking a rest on our way down. Grant was very sleepy by this point. I don't even know how tired Troy's arms must have been.

Mason holding up a rock. ; )

Heading Down...

A little break on the way up. Grant guzzled a bottle in no time.

Proof that we made it to the top - that little plaque is the highest point.

Mason relishing the view...

Daddy and Grant

Heading up the mountain, just starting out.

Getting kinda steep...

Enchanted Rock is so much fun. If you have kids that can walk, I highly suggest you go. It's actually a relatively easy climb for such a great view....

Meanwhile, back at home...

So, we're back.
The ranch is great. It's relaxing. It's quiet. It's serene, even.
But, it's hot. and it's hard to have a crawler in a tiny cabin and it's just more fun to be at the ranch with Gema and Pop Pop and they're in New York so...
we're back.
We still had tons of fun and I have pictures from Enchanted Rock, LBJ pool, and the WildSeed Butterfly exhibit that I can't wait to show you...

meanwhile, back at the ranch...

we're headed to the ranch for a few days. We were going to go camping but, well, I chickened out. So instead we're at the ranch for three nights. And we're hoping to hit enchanted rock and LBJ state park during our stay. I am sure there will be pictures... : )