Happy Monday!

For the rest of everyone that has to work, today maybe it's not a happy Monday. I start my week long vacation today. It is so refreshing! No work, no e-mail, no hot car in the afternoon when I leave! Will I accomplish all that I have set out to do? Sure hope so. You will find out next week in my post if I did it all.

Our weekend was great. Friday night, we hung out with my parents and sister. Saturday, Craig, Conor, and I had a day full of errands to run. Oil Change, Pack N Mail, Uncle Geralds house, and Toy R Us were on the list of things to do. Then, I got the bright idea to mulch the flower beds about 1pm. Duh!!! What was I thinking. I don't believe I have ever sweat that bad in my entire life! I suffered for the rest of the afternoon. I hope I leared my lesson.

Father's Day was fabulous. I got to spend it with the wonderful men in my life. My Dad, Craig, and Conor. It was a relaxing day, with a little bit of shopping sprinkled in. Dad, Craig, and Conor put together a car for Conor. It was a nice project for everyone to be involved in.

I have the coveted job of "sticker application specialist". I have put stickers on all of Conor's toys. I actually enjoy it.

The finished product. That was probably the best $10 my Dad has spent at a garage sale in a long time!!

It's been a short weekend!

When summer hits, it never fails, the weekends get shorter and shorter. I can't believe tomorrow is Monday. Ewww. One thing I have to look forward to is my vacation next week! Usually, by this time of year, I have already had a week of vacation, but for some reason this year I just haven't taken anything. I am going to spend Monday - Wednesday by myself. I actually have a list of things that I need to work on.

1. Clean up guest bedroom. It is a nightmare.
2. Go through Conor's clothes and decide what to store and what to give away.
3. Clean out the pantry and fridge
4. Sweep the outside of the house
5. Pull every weed I can see in the front
6. Thursday will be Mommy and Conor day. We are going to swimming during the day and Then we will go see Cars when Daddy gets off work.
7. Friday - My mom has the day off work and we are going to hang out.

That is enough to keep me busy! Hopefully, I will get it all done. When you have kids, it is amazing how much you can't get done. Without Craig and Conor in the house I can listen to the music as loud and I want! Yippy!

The only pictures I have to post today are the ones from swimming. We went to Seahorse today. The Seahorse brings back some memories. I took swimming lessons out there when I was a kid. I'll be darned if it doesn't look exactly the same as 20 years ago.

Spiderman Floaties!

Mommy and Conor getting out to take a break.

I bought this little floatie thing on clearance last year for $5. It is the neatest thing.

Thirteen Things about MIKA!1. I woke up about 5:45 am this morning. That is the earliest in a long time. 2. I made potato, bacon, and cheese burritos for breakfast today. They were delicious. 3. I went to Target on my lunch hour. 4. My son finally went to bed before 10pm tonight (believe me this is a big thing) 5. Conor and I went to our second swimming class. 6. I need a manicure, pedicure, and a massage :-) 7. I had a project meeting today and I am so excited to work on this project team!! 8. I have an off-site training tomorrow, and I can sleep in! 9. I am so glad tomorrow is Friday. 10. I can't wait to get pregnant again. 11. I would do anything to have my old car back 12. I wish someone would build a house next to ours. These empty lots are driving me crazy 13. I love my family. Links to other Thursday Thirteens!

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My first Truck and Swimming Lessons!!

In the last post I mentioned Conor is the proud owner of a new F-150 Power Wheels truck. It is just the cutest darn thing! I will go ahead and warn you now.....I let my kid run around in a diaper. And, Yes, in the front yard in daylight :-) I just have to remind everyone that Craig and I got a fabulous deal on this thing! Less than $100 bucks!

Moving on.... SWIMMING!!! We had a fantastic time. I wanted to get there early thinking Conor needed time to get used to the water. BIG MISTAKE. Conor wanted to get right in immediately when we walking in the door. Unfortunately, the "Y" had other classes going on at the same time so we couldn't just hop in when we wanted we had to wait until 6:30. So after some arguing and crying our cute little swim teacher said it was time. We all line up on the shallow end and moms get in first, then babies. Conor had a blast. He wanted me to let him go, but the water was too deep for him to be alone. He splashed and reached out for the floating toys, he loved to twirl in circles and kick his feet. Towards the end of our lesson, he wanted to jump of the edge to me. The 30 minutes went by fast, but it was much more of a workout than I expected. Some of the moms had younger kids who were still and allowed them to be held, but the rest of us had active toddlers who squirmed around the whole time. Needless to say, I was tired after that!!! The pictures from this time didn't turn out well. They were dark, but I was able to salvage one. Craig is going with me again on Thursday and he is going to try some different techniques with the camera to get some better pictures. I do have a scrapbook to fill you know :-) I have a week of vacations scheduled this month so Conor and I are going to have a swim day in a pool where we can stay longer. I LOVE being a Mommy!!!

Another week has gone by fast....

Hi Everyone!
We have had a very busy week! With the Memorial services and family in town, we haven't spent more than a few hours at home this week. Conor is now the proud owner of a F-150 truck (Power Wheels of course). Craig and I were at Wal-Mart doing our monthly shopping and near the check out lane they had a pallet full of these trucks on clearance. I always told myself I would NEVER buy my kids those battery powered cars. I just thought they spelled trouble. Well darn if they didn't look so cute on the box. Also, the clearance helped too! You know me and my bargain shopping. We have to let it charge for 18 hours, so tomorrow I will have pictures to post. It's a good thing we have empty lots on either side of us, that gives Conor plenty of room to "drive". Until we get pictures of the truck, here are some from the family.

Here is Craig, Conor, Ashley, Kerri, and Beth. Everyone was outside playing with the remote control cars that night.

Next we have the ladies hanging out on the back porch. Haylie, Terri, Aunt Ruby, Missy, and myself.

The Men hanging out inside. Here we have Bud, Uncle Jimmy, and Uncle Gerald.

Beth and Rex. Isn't she just the cutest thing!!!

Check for another update tomorrow!!

I am getting better!!!!

Look... only 9 days between posts. That is a considerable improvement from the last time. I hope this posts finds you all well. This is a week of bittersweet for the McMahan/Beal family.

Friday evening, we got the unexpected news that Aunt Barbara had passed away. She is the most fabulous person you could meet. She has a way to make you laugh no matter what the conversation. She has the most gorgeous full lips that people pay thousands for. We love you Aunt Barbara and while you are absent from body, you are with us in spirit. Please visit http://www.mem.com/display/biography.asp?ID=1376456 to learn more about her.

On Saturday, My parents, Conor, and I made an early morning trip to Amarillo for my cousins graduation. It brings back some awesome memories from when I graduated from High School. It made me so proud. Yes, I even cried. Not just because it was a High School graduation, it was so much more than that. My cousin graduated from the Richard Milburn Academy. For those of you who don't know it is an alternative school that gives you a "second chance". As I sat in my chair and listened to the commencement, it made me realize these kids didn't have an easy journey in High School like most of us take for granted. They had to work extra hard with many hardships to achieve the same goal. It made me really appreciate what they had to do to get where they are today. I don't have pictures right now, but I will upload when I get them in.

Moving on.... In order to prepare Conor for his swimming lessons which start next week, the mini pool was in running order on Sunday afternoon! I really think he is going to LOVE this!!! He calls it swimming, even though the pool is no wider than 4 feet and only 6 inches deep.

Lastly, Cookie and Paw are in town!!!! They arrived yesterday afternoon. It is always such a pleasant visit when they are here. Conor loves to visit, even though it takes him a few hours to reaquaint himself.

So that is all for now. Next week should include adventures of swimming lessons at the "Y".

Family Update

Ok, in my first post I mentioned "if I do a good job at this blog thing, you will learn a lot about our family". I'm a little behind. I guess I just have to be in the mood to start writing and we have been very busy lately. Easter, Mother's Day and Craig's Birthday, as well as two business trips for Craig this month have taken place. Other than that nothing major has happened. I decided to post a few pictures of our family. Hope you enjoy.

About a month ago, we decided to landscape our flower beds. I never realized that my son would be such a horticulturist. He is very involved in the digging and watering of the tree and plants.

Moving on to Easter....

Conor had a very cute party at school. I absolutely love the daycare that he goes to. They are the best in town by far and they love him like their own. You just can't beat that.

Easter Sunday was spent at my Mom and Dad's house. Conor did a spectacular job of hunting eggs in the front yard. We learned our lesson though on using hard boiled eggs. Each time he picked one up he would throw it the basket. By the time it was all said and done, they were all cracked. We are sticking to plastic for a while.

Next in line..... Craig's 28th Birthday 5/10!!!! He swears he feels and looks older, but I tell him he is getting more handsome by the day. Unfortunately, on his Birthday he was in Dallas on business due back in Lubbock around 8 that night. He didn't get much time to celebrate, but we at least has presents and cake when he got in. My husband always gets on to me because I am a "practical" gift giver. Clothes, tools, stuff for the house are gifts that I usually give. This year, I got a wild hair and attempted to be fun. I am roaming down the toy aisle at Wal-Mart wondering what would be fun and what would he enjoy. Then strikes me, Craig is a huge fan of anything Remote Controlled. I quickly load up a cool red dodge offroad looking truck. Needless to say, the gift was a hit.

Mother's Day was wonderful. My Dad and Craig cooked fabulous lunch for my Mom and I. We got beautiful cards and some cool gifts. Conor gave me a digital picture frame full of pictures. AWESOME!!! I am so lucky to be a Mom. There was a point in my life, where I was told that I may not have children. I am just so fortunate to have my Conor, I just can't Thank God enough for blessing me with him. I have grown so much as a person because of him and I love myself now more than ever because of the person that I have become.

And lastly, I want to mention Conor's hair cut. YIKES!! I now know what the heck a "2 guard" really means. My Dad, who is a hair stylist, warned me before he made the first cut. I told him it was ok, a "2 guard" would be just fine. Besides it is summer and the kid needs short hair to keep cool. Well, my Dad runs the clippers right down the middle of Conor's head and we all gasped in shock. Any shorter and my little man would have been bald like Lex Luther on Smallville. Of course there is nothing you can do, but it took some getting used to. When I picked Conor up from school the next day, his teacher told me she had to look at him twice because she didn't recognize him. Ooopsy!!

So, hopefully, I have gotten you all up to date with our lives. I will try to do a better job of posting. Have a great rest of the weekend!!!!

Coming soon..... Conor and Mommy will be taking swimming classes at the "Y" starting June 5th. Wish me luck!!