Monday, February 28, 2011

Hayden wrote his name

Our baby (3 year old), Hayden, FINALLY is writing his name.  They aren't in a row but they are grouped to one day spell Hayden. 

Can you see the letters that spell out Hayden?





Sunday, February 27, 2011

Hayden's 4th Birthday Invitation

I'm so happy to show you all Hayden's 4th birthday invitation.  It's so Buggy! 




Bird Houses and Jewelry Boxes

Since I was at Jo-Ann Fabrics, I couldn't just get the material I needed and leave, NO.  I had to walk around the whole store which I am so happy my husband wasn't with me because I would have had to hear him say "Are you done yet?" a million times.  I found these adorable bird houses and jewelry boxes that were not painted (and only $1) and bought 6 for all the younger cousins for sunday dinner pre-entertainment, and assorted colored paints.  I think the kiddos liked it a lot.  I know my boys love painting and doing artsy fartsy crafts.  Pictures to come soon...


Weekend Review

Friday morning, I was awakened from my sweet dreams (and drooling on my comfy pillow) to my amazing husband with a plate filled with eggs sunny side up (just how I like it, so I can dip my crispy bacon inside) and peppered bacon.  Since Hayden is not in school still he asked if he could eat his breakfast in my bed too.  I ended up getting out of bed to join my husband and son in the kitchen (didn't want to have to clean up that mess!) and enjoy the yummy breakfast.  My husband had a fun filled day planned for us and it all started with Sam Moon.  Since I will be traveling to San Antonio next weekend for a softball tournament, he wanted me to go in style. He bought me a new zebra striped luggage bag.  It was very cheap, but from the looks of it -- it looks like he bought it from a high end store.  We are Pluckers members and a huge fan of their wings, so for lunch he took us there.  It was FREE fried pickles for being members, which is another family favorite.  After our delicious lunch we decided to head home so we could pick up the boys from school because once we picked them up we had to leave AGAIN and head to the softball fields for batting practice (I swear this is our busiest time of the year!).  After BP, we all wanted something different to eat (mommy wanted Panda Express, daddy wanted Schlotzky's, and the boys wanted BK).  We decided that we were also going to make it a chill evening and grab a few movies; Ramona and Beezus & The Social Network.  It was a great Friday.



Saturday morning was rough.  Waking up very tired boys and getting them ready for baseball practice and be at the fields by 8 AM is not my cup of tea (or coffee).  We finally made it out there about 8:15 and Hayden was so excited.  I have very high expectations this year because last year is was all cute him falling in the dirt and playing like he was sleeping but now I expect him to be a pro now! =)  He had a great first practice.  After Haydens was Masons practice.  This boys can drive a sweet mommy CrAzY!!!!  He LOVES playing baseball at home but when it comes to practicing he wants NOTHING to do with it.  I came from a coaches home and that stuff was NOT tolerated from pre-teeball til college.  Being the only parent at the field and having to keep my eye on Cody at the playground and taking Hayden to the bathroom every 5 minutes I felt helpless with Mason while he was about to jet to the playground in the middle of the practice. GGrrrrr!  After practice for Mason ended (thank you baby Jesus!) it was time to head out to mommy and daddy's games for the rest of the day.  We ended up taking 3rd in our tournament, ate dinner and came home to crash. Jam packed day completed!


Sunday morning arrived too quickly because when I checked the clock it was 10:00 am and our church starts at 10:45 and was 20 minutes away from where we live.  I jumped up told the boys to get dressed (then I had to go help them get dressed) and then get myself dressed and hurry to church.  I don't understand why it's so hard to get up on Sundays for my family but it is.  We made it to church 15 minutes late which is not bad considering the time we woke up.  We had a guest speaker, Pastor Rober Morris who brought the word on tithing.  He explained tithing so clearly for me.  I am so happy to be apart of such a growing church; Celebration Church.  After church we ate at El Patron and had the WORST service.  We were there for an HOUR.  After that train wreck, Cody (7) and I went to Jo-Ann Fabric and picked up the material to make my sweet buddy, Landon a Super Landon Cape.  Got home and cut out all the pieces and now all I have to do is sew it together (tomorrow).  Had a yummy dinner with my In-laws and now it's peaceful in the Dotson house with the Oscars on. 



Wednesday, February 23, 2011

Fine motor skills

Today, at my school we worked on the kids fine motor skills by getting spaghetti colanders and pipe cleaners.  They would put the pipe cleaners in the holes of the colanders.  It was a HIT!  I saw how much fun my 2 years had that I couldn't wait to get off work and head to my FAVORITE store, Dollar Tree, to see if they had what I needed to do it at home with my boys. 

The only thing the Dollar Tree had were can colanders, which are smaller (but come to think about it, I don't need 4 spaghetti colanders) so I was glad to have purchased the small ones.  I also bought 3 packs of 45 pipe cleaners in assorted colors.  When I got home, I gave each boy their project and they LOVED it!  Each made their own special creation and without knowing was working on their fine motor skills that will help them. 

Mason's Report Card

We are very proud of Mason's Report card and today the teacher sent a letter saying that during JISD's Flex days, Mason has met the criteria for Flex days and he gets to stay home, while others have to go to school.

Monday, February 21, 2011

*Super Star*


I am so very proud of Cody.  He has worked hard at school getting Super star and Cougar Pride.  To get a Super star and Cougar pride you have to display character, integrity, and so on (Cody told me all but I forgot).  He brought home his Show and Tell box that he gets whenever he gets Cougar Pride, and is able to bring something that he is proud of that fits in the box and share it with the class.  He was so pumped because he wanted to put the POWER TEAM brochure (he got all their autographs on it).  I wish I was there to hear him share about all the wonderful things they did.  I bought him a shirt there and it says, "FLEX YOUR FAITH" and he wants to wear it tomorrow.  I love that he doesn't care that people might put him down because he loves God but that he loves God and people and can't wait to share about his Love through the Power Team.  Way to go, Cody!!!

Sunday, February 20, 2011

We are FAMILY!


Last night we traveled to the big ATX (That's Austin, Tx for those who don't know).  We met at Southside pizza with my mom, step-dad, sister, brother, and some friends for dinner.  When you get me, my mom and brother together, you end up with a stitch in your side from laughing so hard.  We are THOSE people who go a little too far on everything (the TMI group!). 

After the delish homemade pizza, we walk about 1/2 mile to Hey Cupcake in the trailer section. We bought the LAST 8 cupcakes and shut the place down.  FYI, cupcakes go down very well with a vanilla latta (even at 8pm).  After about an hour and a half of fellowship and yoga (Yes, my brother did some yoga for us!) we headed back to the vehicles and headed home. 

My family of growing boys were still hungry so whenever we tracked through Georgetown, Taco Cabana sounded pretty good (even though it was the only place besides Caca Bell that was open).  Jacob (hubs) and I laughed so hard while waiting for our late night snack.  Then as we pulled out the water spilled all over Jacob's back.  I laughed until I cried....  The way he was telling me it when down his pants had me rolling!  One thing that I love most, is a really good laugh. 

Friday, February 18, 2011

The Power Team

This was a perfect family outing.  It all started with getting Mason and Cody's hair cuts.  They look like handsome prince' instead of red neck hillbillies with their mullets! Right after they were done getting their hair cuts we rushed to have dinner with our friends The Caskey's and Mr. Dady.

Dinner was delish and the company was entertaining.  We had 5 boys between the 2 of 3 families.  I must say the boys were wonderful (all 5 of them).  After finishing up, since we ate right next to the church we all just walked to Main Street Baptist Church.  It was a BEAUTIFUL evening. 



When we walked in, the first people we see are Mason and Cody's friends from school.  I knew they would be there with their grandparents but figured the chances of seeing them would be slim to none. So of course, I had my camera ready and took pictures.  (Lanessa, I'm sure your sons are sick of me and my camera!) After pictures, we took our amazing seats (right smack dab in the middle and close to the front!) The lights turn off and the music is loud and the bold voice comes over the speakers and they start to introduce The Power Team and I am just as excited as I can be and I look over and my three year old is screaming and crying with the booklet they handed out at the beginning. I picked him up and put him in my lap and that helped a bit.  But it was when he went and sat in Mr. Dady's lap is when he actually enjoyed the show. (Thanks Eric!)






Tonights line up consisted of: John Kopta, Sargent Rock, Bonzai, and Shannon.  Bonzai spoke his testamony and I had goosebumps and almost in tears, but it was so inspirational.  Then they blew up hot water bottles and they would pop, he said the pressure of the hot water bottles when they pop is like a tire on an 18 wheeler popping, and these guys were blowing them up until they BURST.  AMAZING!  Then John bent 2 frying pans until they were curled completely, ripped 4 (1000 page each) phonebooks in 30 seconds, bent an inch and a half of steel rebar, broke wood bats, ripped Texas license plates in half and lifted a huge log that was on fire up and down.  My boys were simply amazed at all that.









After the show was over, we had bought a miniature bat and the boys got to get pictures with each Power team member and get their signature.  The entertainment this evening was beyond belief, unless you are their to see it to believe it. 

Shannon with the boys

Sargent Rock with the boys

John with the boys


Bonzai with the boys

I was craving something sweet and so we went and got mini blizzards for the whole family.  DQ in Georgetown has a sign right before you walk into the doors that said "Bad Attitudes Here" and underneath was a trash can.  I just loved it, so I took a picture to share with you all.

Mason's Robot

One thing I love about Mason's teacher is that I get a daily email and pictures of how their days went and what they did in class.  Two days ago I got an email and up pops Mason's art work which was a Robot he made.  There were 6 other artwork she posted but Mason's by far was amazing (and I'm not just saying that because he is my son.)  Anyway, I am very proud of how well Mason is doing in class. 

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Easy Curtains

I made curtains for Mason and Hayden's room by taking their top sheet where it's folded and sewn on and cut a slit on the sides.  Then I slid the sheet curtains on the rod and TADA!  Curtains that match their sheet.  Easy easy easy. 


Bragging on my boys

I know I probably go a little overboard on bragging on my sweet boys but I just can not help it.  Everyday they surprise me with how much they are growing into some great men. 

Cody (7) showed me a Valentine card he had made for his Meme and Momo telling them how much he was thankful for the sweet gift they gave each grand kid.  He told me to turn it over and I saw the most detailed cut out hand sign for 'LOVE' pasted on the back; my heart melted!  Cody has such a BIG BIG BIG thankful heart and that I love so much.  He was funny at the dinner table tonight praising his brothers for eating their veggies.


Mason (5) is my amazing-creative-spontaneous son.  Just out of the blue he grabbed a few scrapped items I was going to throw away and he created a "ONLY Super hero clubhouse".  Even at school, Mason is very articulate when it comes to songs they sing and activites that they do.  I'm very proud of his 'projects' because one day I can see him being an Architect ($$$).




Hayden (3) is my baby.  Me and him are like two peas in a pod.  He goes to school with me and we listen to our favorite morning talk show the Bobby Bones show and sing a long to all the songs.  My 3 year old can recite the Pledge of Allegiance.  He's very dependent on me and I love it.  Hayden feels as though anything his older brothers can do, HE CAN DO IT TOO.  He's definitely my go getter.  He also lets me straighten his hair once a month to see how long it's getting, Hayden looks like he is from the 70's. =)






Jacob and I are extremely blessed beyond measures.  I'm not saying my boys are perfect by any means, but they are pretty amazing little boys once you get to know them and their personalities. 

BEST

I know the title says BEST, but I am going to start with my not-so-best day.  Actually, I don't even want to go there. 

Whenever I got home, I did a few things around the house and ended up passing out on my bed.  It was a MUCH needed nap and I am so thankful that my husband took the kids out and let mommy have a quiet peaceful (2hour) nap!  Although, when my husband needed to run to the store it took my eyes and body to get up and go outside with the kids. 

The smell of the grill running; pleasured my sense of smell.  I am a HUGE fan of grilling.  One thing I did before my amazing nap was put chicken breasts in a ziplock bag and added Ken's Steakhouse Italian with garlic and asiago cheese so it can marinade.  It was a perfect choice because the chicken tasted delicious especially along side the corn on the cob, broccoli-carrots-water chestnuts-snow peas steamed to perfection, salad, and four cheese boule. 

Saving the BEST for last.  Every evening the boys tell us how their day was, it is my favorite part of the day to be able to just sit and fellowship with my sweet family.  Cody (7) has never been the vegetable eater BUT tonight he requested salad with ranch and DEVOURED it and asked if he could have salad again tomorrow night.  That was a BIG deal for him and we praised him for that and reminded him of the health benefits of eating salad (getting big muscles of course!).

   

Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Mommy has a new gig

Yep, that's right.  I sell Scentsy.  I finally got my box full of goodies (aka: new consultant package) and I couldn't wait to dig in and see what was inside.  I wanted to buy a basket and decorate it all up with fun ribbon and my husband reminded me that I had a rollie bag big enough to put everything in and organized. 

(Geez, I just love him!)

If you need Scentsy please call, text, facebook (Scentsy - Independent Consultant: Sandi Dotson), website: http://www.sandidotson.scentsy.us/


Monday, February 14, 2011

Love is in the air

Today is the day that we celebrate the love that we have for one another. Whether it be your spouse, child or friends we all love to show people how much we care. But there is one love that is greater than all others and that is the love of God poured out for us, let us remember today the greatest gift of love ever given and His name; Jesus Christ!

With that being said, I want to share about my family's special day.  It all started with a nice flat tire. (UGH) Yes, we all go to get in the truck and we have a flat but we don't have an air compressor so we drove to the nearest gas station(s) to fill it.  Jacob and I got the boys to school and took their laundry basket FULL of bottled love juice, cupcakes, and teacher gifts.  At this time I am ridiculously late... RUSH to work and drop Hayden off at his class with his box full of goodies.  Needless to say, the love juice was a total hit.

I was able to sneek away from my class and attend Hayden's class party for about 5 minutes.  I was able to get ONE picture of my full of life red head with his Valentine box (made out of Folgers coffee holder). Sad that I wasn't able to make it to Cody and Mason's parties.  Probably the only down side of working in Cedar Park, but they understand that their mommy will try and make everything if I could. 




Whenever I got home I literally passed out on the couch I was that exhausted from this past weekend and staying up later than usual finishing up everything.  My sweet husband took Hayden to run an errand so that I could get as much rest as possible before the older 2 got home from school.  Whenever they got home they woke me up and asked to go outside and play, but I was literally glued to the couch barely able to keep my eyes open.  Respectfully, the boys didn't put up a fight and were eager to get into their candy and Valentine boxes from school (all while enjoying watching Finding Nemo).

Around 5:30 I finally hop up (of course it took all of my will power, but I did) and got dressed into my workout clothes and made it to Zumba just in time so that I could work off the delicious treats my wonderful parents and students gave me today.  Before I had left I put the lasagna in the oven, which I am glad I did because by the time I did all I had to do was heat up the veggies and put the crescent rolls in the oven.  Jacob and I set the table.  Teamwork is pretty much our motto for our family.  Dinner at the table with the family is one thing I want to instill in my children because that is how a family grows.  They each took turns sharing how their day and parties.  Another successful day!



    

Friday, February 11, 2011

Getting ready for Valentine's Day

The past couple of weeks I have been searching and searching for the cutest Valentine's day gifts that the boys could participate in and that I know their friends would enjoy as well.  Of course, the boys are going to make Valentine cards but this is their special gifts to their friends. 


Thanks to Tator tots and Jello and her creative idea to take bottled waters and decorate them up a bit, add a few accessories and TADA! 


This is what I did: I bought 52 bottled water (.9oz), adorable Valentine scrapbook paper, Avery (48366) file folder labels, pink ribbon, swirly straws from Dollar tree, and sugar free Hawaiian Punch singles to go (purple and red). 



I measured 1 and 1/2 inch all the way down the scrapbook paper (the last one was 2 inches which I still used).  Cut and glue (I used scotch quick dry adhesive) the scrapbook paper on the bottled water.
I forgot to mention above that I made my own heart template with to and from and glued that on the water bottle. The boys put the Avery labels (which reads: LOVE JUICE mix content in bottle water) on the individual Hawaiian punch. They loved participating! I poked a hole in the singles and put the pink ribbon around the swirly straw and bottled water and there you have it folks, LOVE JUICE from the Dotson boys.



 Mason was so focused




 Cody was side-tracked because of a movie that was on Disney.




THE FINAL PRODUCT


Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Meet Charli the Cat

I was never a cat person but WE HAVE A CAT and I have grown to love him.  His name is Charli.  He's PERFECT for our family and loves to cuddle.

Wow, 2 months away.... I'm back!

I have been away for quite some time.  When you are a full time wife, mother, teacher something is going to give and blogging was it for a while.  But I am so excited and have many things that I can't wait to blog about. 

Just a small recap, Cody (7) is playing basketball (little dribblers) at his school and for being his first year he is doing GREAT!  Mason (5) absolutely loves school and has made a friend who has came over to our house for a playdate and yesterday was Mason's first time to go to a playdate without me or his brothers tagging along.  Hayden (3) is still full of laughs (and farts) and does some funny stuff all the time.  Recently he bowled for the first time with my mom and he did great. 

I have lost 6.5 lbs since January 1st.  I have to give a lot of credit to Zumba, Jillian Michael's 30 day shred, running, not drinking sweet tea and eating right. I have about 20 more lbs to go but I am seeing progress and results and know I can do it. 

I have also jumped on the bandwagon and now sell Scentsy.  Scentsy offers a safe, wickless alternative to scented candles through home parties and online sales.  If you are interested in buy, host, or joining Scentsy please check out my website http://www.sandidotson.scentsy.us/ and I can help you with your Scentsy needs. 

Jacob and I are still doing our traveling softball tournaments and league, just not as much as last year.  This is our hobby to keep us active with our friends and keep our competitive drive still going! 

Well, that about sums up a little bit of what we have been up to, but tune in because there will be more posts coming soon....