BBQ Festival

Saturday we ventured out to the Woodlands to the Great American BBQ Festival. Travis was able to score us entry passes through work so it made for a very fun, inexpensive day out!

I ask all you Mom's out there not to be judgemental when you read this, but ... this was Gabrielle's 1st time on a carousel. I just haven't taken the plunge and allowed her the joy at the mall because I know once we start it there will be no stopping it. She will want to ride the carousel every time we go shopping or mall cruising.

If you ask her what her favorite "ride" was she will quickly tell you the big slide. You can see by the smile on her face that she is telling the truth!

Daddy had so much fun with her on the slide that I wanted a turn too :0)

This is our good natured little guy. He was so content to just be along for the ride. I dig the double chin and Elvis hair effects! This picture also shows his Uncle Brett's famous ear.

Now this is the way to travel to a BBQ Fest. This leaves for a new interpretation of a Hog for all you Harley peeps out there. Uncle Darren, Aunt Shari ...

This was the highlight of our trip and the real reason for our outing. We bribed Gabi that if she took a nap (which she did!!!) that we could go and see the hot air balloons. They fired up about 8PM and lasted until shortly after 9PM so we didn't get home until 10PM. We thought for sure she would crash on the way home, but I guess the little Starbucks sample that we allowed her to indulge in had a little too much caffeine because she was wired for sound until 11PM.

This is one time I so wish I knew the settings on my camera as I wanted to get a good picture of the balloons when they were all lit up. We did LOTS of walking but had such a great time as a family of four. We will definitely look forward to making the trip again next year.

Too cute for words

The kids were the picture of playfulness the other day. They both had each other squealing with delight. They truly love each other wholeheartedly at this stage in life. I pray that they will grow up to be the best of friends, that they become confidants and that they turn to each other in times of need.
Pictures taken 05/14/08

Flowers + Family + Friends = Fun

While Daddy's away - the kids shall play! Travis was off to Tulsa for a 3 day golfing extravaganza so I scheduled an outing with Papa and Mema to the OP Arboretum. I knew that they would appreciate the beauty that surrounds you there.

Gabrielle holding Papa's hand as we were entering the Arboretum

Mema's girl for sure

Gabrielle wanted so desperately to get close to the water until we noticed all the snakes lounging amongst the rocks. She was fascinated to see one so up close and personal. A little too close for Momma!

Just one of the many beautiful flowers in bloom

This is a covered walkway in the children's dedicated area. I had high expectations for what I perceived this arch to be. Not as I had expected, however Gabi enjoyed running up and down it multiple times.

Our nephew Tyler flew in from Texas over the weekend to attend his friend's high school graduation bash. Gabrielle was beside herself to spend time with him. (She didn't quite understand why Paige wasn't with him.) Tyler is a natural with her. We got to enjoy a couple of hours with him before his flight home on Sunday. .

Saturday night a good friend came to stay with the kids while I had an adult night out. Andrew Morris (the oldest of the Morris 3) graduated from KCUMB. He & his wife will be relocating to Philly where Andrew will be specializing in Urology. Those of my family reading this post are more than familiar with the Morris clan. For the rest of you let's just leave it at I was their "babysitter" and I love this family like no other. Molly, the youngest, was the little sister I never had. She is getting married in late September and Ms. Magoo (Gabrielle) is the flower girl. The Morris family spoiled me growing up and now they spoil my kiddos. The festivities were held at the 75th Street Brewery. Travis missed out on hanging with Will Shields. He is good friends with Andrew and Audra. It was nice visiting with him and getting to know a little about his family. He is incredibly nice and extremely large!! PS Audra, please e-mail the pic of Mo and I!!

Sorry for the long post. Thanks for checking in. Please leave a comment to let me know you are keeping up with our little family.

Scrapbook Pages

I am not very happy with the way the photos turned out. I need to figure out a better way of displaying them prior to taking pictures next time. Anyway, I will post them as I previously mentioned that I would.

Page 1/2 - Gabrielle enjoying a beautiful snow day
I will journal in the bottom left hand corner

Page 2/2 Photos compliments of Ms. Janie
This was my 1st time using transparencies. Expensive purchase, but I like the finished look. The embellishment says believe in clear rhinestones.

A 2 page spread of Dawson's "crib" aka nursery. The ecru strip on the right hand page will include my journaling when I get around to it.

Dawson 4 month old pictures taken at JCP. I have had this ribbon for a while now and was glad to find a place to use a little.

Gabrielle 3 year old pictures also taken at JCP. I love how this page turned out however feel the "all dressed up" addition would have been more fitting on another page.

This is a local family who goes WAY overboard in their holiday decorations. The money generated from donations is gifted to the lymphoma and leukemia society (if I recall correctly). The overall theme is penguins. It is like a mini blowup land on steroids. We have taken Gabrielle the past 2 years. It will definitely become a yearly stop for us. I will add a journaling box on the right hand page above the polar bear pic.

Scripture Book

ATTENTION BONDERMAN FAM'
I am soooooo overdue in sending you a thank-you note for Dawson's birth gift BUT hear me out. I didn't know what I wanted to purchase with the money and I wanted it to be something that would be a keepsake for years to come. This extremely amazing Mom at my church owns her own little business named Rick Rack Baby. She makes such adorable things such as hooded towels, burp cloths, bibs, minky blankets, etc. Well she recently added a scripture book to her list of items and I just knew I had to have one. Here is a picture of the front as well as several of the scriptures to pray over Dawson .
(As you can see I loved it so much I had to order one for Gabrielle as well!)



When I first received them and read through it I was overcome with emotion. It has been so gratifying praying these scriptures over the kids each night. I am pleased as punch with it!!! Thank-you so, so much Uncle Allen and Aunt Sheryl. Every child needs one of these scripture books laying on their bedside table. It is/will be a very powerful tool in this house.

Fun Q & A For Kids

At Jeanna's suggestion I sat down with Gabrielle today and asked her this list of questions. Oh my!! Thanks Jeanna for the free laugh and for 5 minutes of unforgettable smiles this afternoon.

Who is your favorite person?
Tatum
What is your favorite food that mommy cooks?
Pancakes (I can't take the credit for this answer. Her Mema actually is the one who makes them for her)
What do you usually pray for?
For God to help me eat my food
What is your favorite place to eat out?
Chick-Fil-A
What is the silliest thing your daddy does?
He is silly, smiling & joking
How do your parents know so much?
Because they obey
Who is Jesus?
He is my friend
What is the most important rule?
Stay in bed and don't get out
What is the yuckiest food and why?
Peanuts because I am allergic. They make me sick and I throw up.
Who are you going to marry?
You (Mommy)
What are you going to name your children?
Sophie, Alexis & Judy (Alexis and Judy have been her imaginary friends for quite some time now!) & John if it is a boy
What is the best thing about a grandparent?
I love them and get hugs and kisses from them

Mothers Day 2008

I had a great Mother's Day weekend with one minor exception ... I didn't sleep a wink Saturday evening. Sleep has been a real issue for me as of lately! Enough said about that. Friday night we had a quiet evening at home. The kids and I went over to Mema & Papa's and took a nice walk around their subdivision with them. I don't think I stopped talking the whole time. Sometimes it feels like even though they live so close I don't get enough uninterrupted talk time with them. Saturday Travis took on Daddy duty and allowed me to head to the Scrapbook Page to tap into my not so creative outlet. I was so stoked to complete (minus the journaling) 3 layouts + 3 additional random pages for a total of 9 pages. I will try to post pics of the pages tomorrow. Sunday we went to early service then to lunch back at my parents. Mom and Dad were so gracious to offer to keep Gabrielle so I could try to take a nap during Dawson's nap time. I don't know that I got much sleep but I will admit that I was curled up in bed for a little over 2 hours!! It was great! Sunday evening I wasted brain cells and precious time watching the season finale of Survivor Micronesia. I was disappointed in the outcome. I swore not to watch this season but got roped in a couple weeks back.
Glad that it is over ....
All for now - Travis took 26 pictures on Mother's Day and this is as good as it gets. Thank-you Bubby for making me a Mom and for sharing in the chaos and joy of raising two beautiful children. I love you!

Bath time fun for two

This past Thursday the 1st I decided I would allow the kids to take a bath together. Dawson has been sitting without support for quite sometime now so I trusted he would do well. The two of them giggled with glee and splashed each other.

Gabrielle put on her classic camera smile as I snapped a few shots

Dawson on the other hand was not about to smile for me. He was focusing all his attention on where the toys were floating in the tub.

He was fearless of the water and was perfectly content to lay on his back and play with the tub toys before getting out. We only had one brief moment of panic as water lapped into his mouth and he sputtered. Gabrielle has asked almost daily when they get to take a bath together again.

Sister giving brother a big bear hug and thanking him for sharing in the fun!

PB Mishap

I never questioned Gabrielle's peanut allergy or the severity of it, but I also didn't ever want to find out just how serious her reaction could potentially be. I knew the time was inevitable ... so here is a recap of the event. Saturday Gabrielle attended a princess party at her little friend Chase's house. I headed off to Costco with my parents. I hadn't been in Costco 5 minutes when I had this sick feeling that Gabrielle was going to be exposed to peanuts. I hadn't reminded Allyson of her allergy nor had I brought her epi pen with her. I quickly phoned Allyson and she assured me all was well. It wasn't 2 hours later and we were off to celebrate Jason VonMoss's 34th birthday. We were all so wrapped up in the fun and good conversation when Gabrielle looked across the table at me with a terrified look in her face and said "Mommy, I don't like the ice cream. It's yucky!" I didn't think anything of it (I was eating vanilla ice cream and assumed she was as well). I quickly realized she wasn't playing games. I crossed to the other side of the table right as she said "It has peanuts in it!!!" Within a matter of minutes she was spitting and telling me her mouth felt funny. I turned to hand off Dawson just to hear Rene' say "Gabi is throwing up." Poor baby threw up everything in her tummy. I stripped her of her clothing and started cleaning up the mess in the bathroom when she broke out in hives. At this point I hadn't wished for any medical help nor did I think it was necessary to administer her epi pen. Once I saw how quickly the hives came on her neck and wrist I decided the epi pen wasn't such a bad idea. Here is the kicker ... I totally wimped out!!! Yes, me! The one who is fascinated by all things medical. The one who has administered hundreds of shots over the years, assisted with several very gruesome surgeries, birthed 2 children. When it came to inflicting pain on my daughter when someone else was readily available to do it. I opted out. SO, Jason went to give the shot after a 5 second instructional from me and administered the epinephrine to himself instead of Gabrielle. In the interim we gave Gabi a hefty dose of Benadryl & Rene' phoned to request the EMT. They arrived in 2 minutes flat, gave Gabrielle a thorough exam and allowed me to sign a refusal of transport form.
Lessons learned:
Listen to the doctor and always carry 2 epi pens
Don't be a wimp and inflict a little pain next time (I pray that isn't for a long time!)
Be prepared to be ridiculed by others for the mishap
Stomach listening to Gabrielle talk about how she threw up time and time again today
Appreciate those friends who are willing to clean up your child's vomit & caring enough to outwardly express their concern for her well being

Happy 34th Jason! Thanks for everything!