Well, today is the first day Caden is riding the bus to school. I texted my Mom and told her it almost felt like the first day of school. He was uber excited, flying out of bed and ready to roll in no time. I’ve thought a lot about riding the bus when I was little. I had two great bus drivers Hilda & Ruth Ann. Caden’s driver is MaryAnn…I thought that was a good sign. I stepped up on the bus with Caden to get a form to sign allowing the bus to enter our driveway. He flew to the first empty seat and plopped down. I could only see his happy eyes smiling at me as I told him I love him. Ugh, this growing up stuff is hard and fast. I think the fast part is what makes it so hard.

I love my kids! I love the 6 year old boy sitting in the chair with me. THIS is a great age! My favorite age, I think. He is currently telling me how to spell certain words. I love this bossy child.

There was a senseless shooting of 20 precious 6 year olds a few days ago. I say senseless because it doesn’t make any sense, it just doesn’t. Lots of people blame guns in an effort to make sense of it. I tend to think there is a terrible problem with mental illness and there are too many people untreated. 20+ elementary children in China were stabbed by a man the same day. Crazy will find a way. It is my opinion, the focus needs to be on helping the mentally ill…resources for good mental health are so slim. People need to slow down and be kind to one another. The world can be a stressful place and it causes people to CRACK. Like I said and like the Chinse man made clear, guns or no guns, crazy will.find.a.way.

Besides, we NEED guns down here in Texas. Border violence is spreading north…and it seems like the media and the majority of America has turned a blind eye. These aren’t crazy, sick, gun wielding people causing problems down here. They are hard core, stone-cold, killers. To a lot of Mexican bandits, life is assigned little to no value. It’s not uncommon for a 12 year old boy in Mexico to take a life and feel NO REMORSE.

In northern Mexico, a personal friend had his truck stolen from him at gun point. This same man’s son was also murdered…because he refused to let the cartel take his land in Mexico. The cartel has the land now. I hear stories like this all of the time. Everyone here knows someone, who was affected by border violence. Mexican bandits chop the heads and limbs off of women & children like it’s common place. The violence has spread to south Texas. AMERICANS, of all races, that stand in the way of a Mexican drug cartel are faced with REAL THREATS to the lives of their family. It’s freaking scary. Not much at all is being done about it. Hell, we rarely get more of a blip about it on the news and we live damn close to the violence. It will take a mass casualty to make the rest of America wake up and realize there is a real, BIG, PROBLEM at the Mexican border.

In my hometown, a man was murdered, had his hands chopped off, and left in a field a few years ago. It was cartel related. The murderer is found…she happened to live next door to one of my best friends & across the street from another one. Guess what? She is out on bond for the holidays. She does drugs. She is a murderer. Screw you, if you don’t think my friends shouldn’t have the right to continue being responsible gun owners. The justice system lets a killer come home for the holidays.

Until something is done about violence down here, you’ll be hard pressed for my family to EVER give up our right to bear arms. EVER. In the town where I work, an illegal Mexican man was picked up and deported for trying to lure young boys into his van. A man in this town was doing business near the border, he refused to give the cartel what they wanted. They took his daughter and held her ransom until he paid them $20K. They told him where in Mexico to find his 8 yr. old daughter, he found her headless.

If I lived 200 miles south, the threat of a mexican bandit coming into my home and murdering my family would be very, very REAL. And like I said, the violence is creeping north. Unless something is done, I fully expect that threat to be very real here in the next few years. I don’t personally know anyone who doesn’t have a fire-arm in this area. If someone were to ever, EVER, EVER, EVER come to my home and threaten the lives of MY adorable SIX YEAROLD, MY precious THREE YEAR OLD they would have to get through my husband & I first.

That’s nice that Australia & Canada don’t have to worry about violence from an unsecure border spilling into their country full of un-armed citizens. If American’s didn’t have our right to bear arms…I believe the border violence would be MUCH, MUCH further north.

In response to all of the articles, posts, blogs, Twitter messages about banning the right to bear arms. I say step out of the picturesque, predominantly safe world you live in and move down here. Right here in America, I can take you places to change your mind. Where it’s not American gangs who could actually be affected by the ban of guns that make you scared. But where soul-less eyed, illegal immigrants who can NOT be affected by anti-firearm legislation can make you piss your pants with a cold glare . I can make you second guess your opinion that all of us American cowboys ought not own guns…and make you wish you had one, too.

I hate that crazy Americans can get their hands on guns and can do horrific things. I can see how you see something like what happened in CT and scream for gun control. I honestly get it. But it’s not that simple. Yeah, if it were a country like America that shared our southern border. I might, just might agree with you whole heartedly. But we border Mexico people, and it’s a different world. A much, much different world. Oh you say you took a cruise to Cozumel or spent a week in Cancun and know all about Mexico? You don’t. You don’t know a damn thing about Mexico if you’re basing it off of your vacation to the Yucatan. Ha, take a vacation to Juarez, and IF you live to tell about it, then I will agree you know all about Mexico.

Not all gun owners and supporters of the NRA are gun-toting hillbillies who are pushing for the continuance of their way of life. For me and my family, owning a gun isn’t just about being sportsmen and preserving time honored traditions. My American brothers & sisters who live FAR from the violence taking place on OUR SOIL need a good education. Until something big and awful happens to put it on your t.v. screens you will never, fully comprehend why I will give portions of our HARD, EARNED money to the NRA to keep lobbying for MY right, my NEED to have fire arms.

(In addition, not all illegal immigrants are bad and associated with the cartels. Many of them are trying to escape the horror they face in their daily lives. They are simply refugees and I welcome those folks with open arms.)

 It’s been a while since I’ve been on Xanga to catch up. Life has been super busy it seems. Maybe it’s just that life is changing. We wanted to move to Andrews, but it seems we are going to stay here for now.

The biggest change is that my boy is now in Kindergarten. His first day of school was something else. He didn’t care for me walking him into the school. He insisted that he could go by himself. We finally reached an agreement that if he would just let me walk him in that day that I wouldn’t walk him in again. I took several pictures which irritated him to no end. Walking into his school, I felt nervous and shaky…but my Caden was in total control. He was so excited and happy. As soon as we reached his room, he was kicking me out the door. And as soon as I turned around, I had tears welling up in my eyes and was short of breath. I held onto Mattie’s hand as we took the long walk down the hall and out of the doors. One teacher was waiting at her door to greet kids and parents with a warm smile, she was about to speak to me but when I made eye contact with her I simultaneously choked back a sob and the tears just flowed. I did my best not to make contact with anyone else. I get all emotional just thinking about it now! Mattie was so excited to take Caden. She even got one of her bags that is used to carry a stuffed dog and put it on her shoulders and called it her “pack pack.” I let her dress herself.

I’m so thankful to God and his perfect planning because Caden’s teacher is a perfect Kindergarten teacher for him. She had two boys and is no stranger to a little boy like mine. I can’t imagine how he would do with a teacher that had no kids or only had girls. So his teacher, Mrs.Tittle, seems to get a kick out of Caden. He comes home with a calendar. On the calendar he has to color each day with colors that correspond to his behavior. White/Green means he did great, Yellow means he got a warning, Red means the behavior must stop, and Blue means he has been sent to the principal. He came home with several yellows in the beginning. He had a time learning when it’s appropriate to talk and when to be quiet. He has had a few reds, one for flushing all of the toilets in the restroom. One for fighting with another child who was trying to take a toy from him. *sigh* I so appreciate that his teacher gets him. The other day she said, “Caden is a good kid. He really is. He is just all boy. I enjoy him, I had two boys.” I’m so very grateful for her. We attended his open house last night. Caden was thrilled to show us every detail in his room and then took us all over the entire school, including the library, music room, cafeteria, playground, and computer room. I got the biggest kick out of it. His teacher said that he did very good yesterday, that he was the leader and he LOVES being the leader.

Caden is very much into sports and physical activity. He won a “hoop-a-looping” contest in PE. We also have him signed up for PiP which stands for Players in Progress. It’s a basketball organization that focuses on ball handling skills only and character development. He loves it. We went up to Ruidoso the weekend before school started and Caden fell in love with the mountains. He has talked several times about going back to the mountains. Wesley loves the mountains, too. I guess he gets it from Wes.

Miss Mattie is really growing up. She loves taking Caden to school and identifying bus numbers. She has a love for all things girly. However, she has really taken to horses…and loves to wear her cowgirl boots. We go to ballet/tap once a week and she shines. It is the greatest gift to see her gorgeous smile as she dances along. She has also laid claim to one of the instructors and becomes a little territorial if other little girls try to sit or stand next to Miss Hope. Mattie is still very bashful in new social situations. At home, though, she is a chatterbox. If she is trying to talk while someone else is talking, she throws her little arm and hand out in front of her almost in the person’s face and says “Uh, Uh, wed-light, I’m talking.” She does this with such attitude. We watched Dolphin Tale the other day. True to her mermaid form, she said “I want a wimming-pool in our backyard with gol-pins in it.”

Both kids are attending Awanas at the Baptist church here on Wednesday nights. They do a great job of learning their memory verses. They LOVE it and are always excited to put their Cubby & Sparks vests on and get to church.

Wesley went to work for an off shore oilfield company that has purchased several on-shore fields. He is loving the work. It’s a really great company with excellent benefits and we are beyond blessed. The oilfield is booming here and there are jobs everywhere…Domino’s pizza was hiring delivery drivers for $21 an hour! This may be the only place in the country with no shortage of jobs.

I’m still working part-time at the nursing home. After Cody & Katie had Allison, I was reminded how much I love OB nursing though. Let me first just say that my new niece is so perfect and precious! I love her! I would so love to work L&D and then eventually teach nursing. At this point though, my kids are doing so much and I can’t stand the thought of missing anything! I’m taking classes online to work towards my RN. I think I’m just going to do a self-paced program because my family needs a full-time mom. I’m not sure we can handle a campus-based curriculum again. I’ve also been making cakes here and there. I decided to create a website www.whitneyhicecakes.com 

All in all, life is good. I have so much more that I need to share. This is good for now, though. I must have forgotten how to work Xanga because my pictures are small. Oh well, I’ve got to get busy! Love to all!

I just wanted to get on a post a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY shout out to my Auntie ‘M’ @mlbncsga . I can’t tell you how wonderful it is to have an Aunt Marsha. It’s like she is an extension of my Mom. I feel the same love from her and for her that I have for my Mom. It’s hard to put in words, but it’s incredibly special. I live 1000+ miles from her but the love and the bond is strong. Speaking of strong, my Aunt Marsha is very strong. She is physically, mentally, and emotionally strong. The super strength of her spirit is inspiring. She has a good heart. Dogs and kids love her and respond well to her…I think it says a lot about a person when a person is naturally good with dogs and kids, they have good intuition. Aunt Marsha is good artist. She is a good story teller. She’s a good listener. She is someone I always want with me at the beach, she is a mermaid. Aunt Marsha is someone it’s great to just BE with, seriously it makes me happy just to have her in the same room. She is the mother of two of my best friends. She has a great laugh. She is a great hugger.  I wish she lived in Texas. But she comes to visit at least once a year and I can’t wait to wish her a happy birthday in person. Please go to #mlbncsga and wish her a happy day, too!

Love to all! Especially My Dear Aunt!

Here is another one of my short updates and “memory dumps.”

Mattie couldn’t find her “heel ups” the other day. She kept asking me for them and I was so lost. “What are heel ups?” Well, she found them and put them on her feet….her high heels! Sweet girl.

I’m working PRN at a nursing home in Andrews. Some of my medical friends are a little upset that I’m not in L&D or Med Surg. Maybe not upset, but they have voiced their confusion. I really like almost all areas of nursing. Everything but surgery…I’m too much of a clutz to ever get at ease around sterile fields. Deep down, I know that I’m an OB nurse. However, right now I’m so grateful to be right where I am. I’m very at peace with it. It’s not forever, but it’s perfect for right now. It is also a whole lot more work than I anticipated. I’ve also had my eyes opened to how sometimes other medical professionals view the ederly. Almost like they are all hospice patients, *sigh*. I’ve made mental notes not do that if I ever go work med surg. I do not like certain aspects of it, though. Staffing is very short and the nurse’s aids have terrible attitudes. Almost every time I’ve politely asked for a nurse aid to help someone I’ve had serious attitude thrown at me. I don’t like the confrontation. I wish there were about twice as many aids because I know they are stressed and very underpaid. I worry about what things will be like in a few years when the baby boomers really put a stress on LTC facilities.

I’ve been making quite a few cakes lately. I made one this past weekend for my precious Aunt Butchie & Uncle Charle’s 50th wedding anniversary. We made a flying trip up to Wheeler Saturday and back Sunday. It was wonderful and but all too short. It was really wonderful to celebrate two people’s love and devotion…especially when you love them both to pieces!

We stopped in a McDonald’s on the trip home for the kids to potty and burn a little energy in the play area. On the way out, near the cash registers I spied a penny. I pointed it out to Caden. He ran and grabbed the shiny new penny. Before I could say anything, he was running to the front of the lines with his coin. He promptly dropped it in the Ronald McDonald House coin collection box and said “I gave my penny to help the poor, sick children.” Holy cow, I was and am so stinking proud. For all of our parenting screw-ups, we’re still managing to get a few things right. I pray my babies will always have such big hearts.

We are going to start working on moving to Andrews. The future seems more certain for Wesley’s career now and all signs point to Andrews for our family.

I better jet now, maybe I’ll add a picture post later. Love to all of you happy people!

On April 21st my precious baby turned 3. I can’t believe it. She is such a sweet little girl…unless her brother has made her angry. She is very sensitive and has started to pout when her feelings are hurt. She loves all things girly. She especially loves jewelry, clothes, and shoes. She likes to wear lipstick. She loves to have her finger and toe nails painted and will comment on any woman’s feet or hands with painted nails. She likes to get a brush and “pix” my hair for me. She says “I will make you pitty and pix you hair.” She likes to sing. Some of her favorite songs are Bring Back My Bonnie, Bingo, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Jesus Loves Me, and of course, Moon River. She likes anything to do with princesses. I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and the entire month leading up to it, she would answer “A prinsa birthday cake with tars.” (A princess birthday cake with stars.)

I’m going all out for the kid’s birthdays this year. Simply because we usually do low-key family things and they need to have a few big celebrations in their honor. And because I failed my kids on such a grand scale during nursing school…I may have a little guilt. Anyhow, we planned on a party here at the house with a jumper, pinata, cake, and pizza. I was really counting on Wesley to help me with all of the outside preparations because cleaning house and having the cake ready were going to be enough for me to handle. Not to mention just keeping up with Caden & Mattie is usually enough to keep me more than busy. Friday morning I was a busy bee in the kitchen when I get a call from Wesley. His back went out. I spent the rest of the day on the road to get him, at the doctor’s office, taking care of him at home, cleaning, and baked cake until 1:00 in the morning. I thought about ordering a Dairy Queen ice cream cake since everything fell to me to handle. But my Mom reminded me that all Mattie has talked about was her “princess cake.” Wes was pretty much bed bound on Saturday until the party. I’m glad my parents came at noon to give me a hand. I can’t describe what a stressful thing it was. I rely so heavily on Wesley. I know it was miserable for him, too. He was in a lot of pain and pretty stressed about not being able to help. His back is fine, just a matter of old football injuries combined with too much weight and lifting too much. He really strained his muscles. Part of it was because he was carrying big bags of soil to the backyard the night before to get the flower beds in shape. We bought flowers and it was his responsibility to get them planted. Friday, while I was tending to Wesley, Caden went and planted quite a few flowers on his own. He assured me that it was okay because his Bam showed him how to plant flowers. I kind of wanted to be upset that things weren’t planted just “so” but it was super sweet of him to do it, it made him feel good, and afterall, he was doing what his Bam had taught him. It was important to him…he would say import-nent.

So we had the party, and Cody & Katie came, Wesley’s family, and Mikka and her kiddos. I wish I would have taken pics of the jumper but oh well. When we sang Happy Birthday to Mattie, she sang along, and blew out her candles like a pro. I went to get my Mom a knife to cut the cake and in the meantime Mattie picked up a spoon and just dug in to the top layer of the cake. In her eyes, the cake was just for her and I was so glad that I hadn’t caved under the pressure and ordered a cake. It was pretty sweet. The pinata (I have no clue how to put the tilde over the n) was a princess and Mattie was not at all sure about hitting her with a bat. However, Caden had been to a birthday party with a pinata and was all over it. He and Javen gave the pretty pinata really good whacks. I’m so regretting not having the video camera out!!!! Oh well, I couldn’t have filmed and Wesley couldn’t either because he was on crutches for the party. I have to add that Mattie got an umbrella…and she calls umbrellas – cinderellas. Isn’t that sweet? I’ll post a few pics and then sign off for now. Excuse the grammar and spelling errors, no time to edit.

The pinata is bigger than Mattie! 

Helping herself…so glad my Mom got this shot.

 Caden admiring his work…I love how he puts his hands on his hips.

Mattie in some of her new birthday duds

This is from last night. The kids had the waterhose out while I was fixing supper. I spied them and told them to take their clothes off and get inside. About 5 minutes later, this is what I saw looking out the kitchen window…

Caden was literally taking mud and washing his face with it.

This afternoon, I was in the backyard cleaning things up for Mattie’s 3rd birthday party weekend. I did some sweeping and then decided to hose off the patio chairs, tables, and cushions. Caden has had a thing for the water hose since he was 18 months old…he still does the same thing, stands next to me and tries to get his hands, feet, or head wet. I decided to give him a treat and surprised him by turning the hose on him. Caden ran and laughed and loved it. I did it a couple of times and the two of us had a good laugh. Now, Mattie has never gotten wet in her clothes before and made it very clear that she did NOT want to be sprayed and wasn’t sure about me spraying Caden. So, I didn’t spray her and went back to hosing off the cushions and hanging them on the fence. As I was hanging a cushion, I was suddenly caught off guard by Caden spraying ME! Caden was standing pretty close and I was able to turn around and snatch the hose out of his hands before I got too terribly wet. It was actually a nice little shower. We had another good laugh, but I made it clear to him that I did NOT want to be sprayed. He was the only one in the backyard that wanted to be sprayed today. Then I gave him a good hose down and it made so very happy. Anyhow, I went back about my business and trusted him to leave the water hose alone. The child is every bit as ornery was, just not as obedient. Because it would’ve been awful tempting but I don’t think I would have dreamed of spraying my Mom again. Oh, but Caden sure did spray his Mom again.We have one of those nozzles that doesn’t have the trigger pull, but a handle that you can pull back and leave on.  And this time, he was smarter. He started spraying me as I had my back to him and he was a good ways from me. I moved and started yelling “Stop! Stop spraying meeee!” His aim never wavered and I started towards him to get the hose. Oh, I wish that I had a snap shot of his face. You should’ve seen the surprise combined with sheer delight as he was SOAKING me! His eyebrows were raised nearly to his hairline and he had a huge delivish smile that was emitting shrieks and laughter. I persisted with my demands for him to stop and he just continued moving backward with his hands cemented to the nozzle that was wide open and pointed directly at me. The kid was NOT going to stop! I raced towards him and grabbed the nozzle. As this is taking place, Mattie is standing in the play house SCREAMING at us to “top it, top it, top it!!” Once I shut the water off, I look at Mattie (who is at my eye level because she is in the play house) and she is extremely upset with real tears in her eyes. I asked her what was wrong and she said “I taid top it!” and pointed to a few, small, spots of water on her shirt “Now, my puple shirt is all wet!” She started to sob a little bit because she has drama queen moments. I considered showing her what ”all wet” really was as my hair, shirt, bra, shorts, panties, and shoes were all sopping. Instead, I had a good chat with Caden about stopping when someone wants you to stop. Even though I laughed the first time he did it, which is what he reminded me. I had to go inside and have a good laugh to myself and call my Mom to tell her, because the whole thing was comical.

I should write about life and our Easter trip and how we don’t have to move to Midland (woo hoo!) but I’m beat physically, mentally, and emotionally. Just wanted to share the bright spot in my day.

Love to all!

My sweet little 5 year old is now riding his bike without training wheels. I took them off the Friday before last and he did so well! He is pretty coordinated and it took no time for him to do it. Of course, he still wrecked like we all did and still does every now and then. That first weekend his legs were bruised up pretty good. It’s been a little over a week and he is convinced his bicycle is a “motorcycle” and wants me to build ramps for him to jump. The kid is full of confidence.

I had plans of going to Wheeler for the past two weekends but things didn’t work out. Instead, I’ve been doing a lot of laundry. Our water heater went out, that set me behind a few days…as the local store didn’t have one that fit the space properly, the next night we went to Hobbs to get another, and the next night Wes installed it. A few days later, my dryer went out. Wesley kept getting in too late to look at it. So, finally weekend before last he worked on it. I took 3 loads of laundry to the laundry mat and spent almost $20. I couldn’t bring myself to spend that much again and decided to wait for the part to get here for Wes to fix it.

Last week, Wesley’s grandfather passed away. He was 88, his health had really declined in the past year or so. He was a very nice man. He loved his grandkids and great grand kids so very much. He got Alzheimer’s though and it become very severe towards the end. Still, it was a hard loss for Wesley.

March 17th was our 6th anniversary. I am still very much in love with my husband. I am very fortunate to have him in my life.

That’s my brief update. Love to all!

Whitney

Ohhh how I wish I could comment on blogs. Ohhh how I wish I could click on recommended blogs. My computer updated to Internet Explorer 9. Now, when I click on links to comment or view other blogs, I’m redirected. I get a message saying IE has blocked the site to prevent cross-site scripting. The page I’m directed to says java void error.

It’s very aggravating. EXTREMELY aggravating. I’ve updated Java. I’ve tried changing the security on my browser. I’ve tried the Xanga help section. Am I the only one this has happened to? Does anyone know how I can fix this without having to use Firefox?

Help! 

The first time my Mom and I went to see Willie was about 10 years ago. It was a fraternity concert that included Jerry Jeff Walker. I got floor tickets and we got there early. We settled ourselves front and center on the guard rail. It got really crowded and people where pushing us from all sides trying to get up front. I’m a little claustrophobic when it comes to being surrounded by large crowds and large drunken crowds are the worst. My Mom actually pointed me out to security at one point, telling them to “watch her.” I’m pretty sure that was after I threatened to punch a guy behind me. It was a total party atmosphere. Anyhow, Mom had to take a break from the insanity a little bit before Willie came on. She ended up going out the wrong door and found herself locked out of the concert. In the meantime, I held tight to the guard rail and cried big salty tears when Willie came out. I cried partly because his look and sound reminded me of my Pawpaw and because here was this man whose music I had listened to my entire life right before me. I could see every name carved into Trigger. I made contact with his brown beady eyes several times. I told him how beautiful his playing was and he smiled so sweetly and nodded. I was on cloud nine, well I was until I got to the truck. I found Mom had been locked out and listening to Willie cds and crying for a whole different reason. I felt so guilty. I didn’t think we’d ever have a chance to see Willie up close and personal again.

A week ago, I randomly saw a tv commercial for an upcoming concert in Lubbock. I was happy to see that the concert was in the auditorium which has assigned seating. I decided to check and see if there were any decent seats left. To my surprise, I was able to get third row center seats at a very reasonable price. And last night, my Mom and I both enjoyed Willie’s music. I cried again. Again, because it is so surreal to see him and hear him play in person. His voice and music are so familiar to me. Willie’s music is definitely featured on the soundtrack of my life. The sound of his voice and his guitar touch me on such a deep level. I have so many memories that are conjured up by his music. I think what really got me though, was when he played “Funny How Time Slips Away.” I was struck by how old Willie has gotten in the 10 years since I saw him last. I began reflect upon how much life has happened in the past 10 years, how much older I’ve become, how in 10 years he won’t be touring. Time, it surely does slip away. He played many of my favorite songs and I sat and let the music soak in. I marveled at what an amazing guitarist he is. I said it a million times last night, he is a true artist. I would pay good money just to sit and listen to him play the guitar. Last night’s concert was much more low-key and intimate. Willie wasn’t partying like before, he was simply performing. We didn’t drink beer like some other concert goers. At the end of the concert, he played several gospel songs including Amazing Grace. I told Mom I was sure glad I wasn’t holding a beer. He worked hard and the 90+ minutes of music was over all too soon. Even though I made no connection with Willie last night, this concert was so much better. I didn’t have to fight for my spot, he played my favorite songs, and most importantly I enjoyed it with my Mom right by my side. It was peaceful and good. It’s funny how things have a way of working out in the end.

Here’s a link to a recent concert rendition of Funny How Time Slips Away…it’s just so much more beautiful in person.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zhDLiJQ_dGg