Cannon Ballsey Turns 2

Look at those big, beautiful eyes. 

 How did I get so lucky to get to be a Momma to such a cutie?

My Cannon Ball is two years old!  He hit his two year mark sleeping in his own twin bed, peeing in the potty, and making Chatty Cathy look quiet.  Add to that--he seems to have subdued his mean streak!  I can't say it's gone, but we get sweet and 'nuggly' Cannon more often than not. 


The first year and a half of his life have been some of the busiest and most challenging ones of my life.  I have said more than once, "this third one has thrown me for a loop.  It's really, really hard."  Or rather "he's really, really hard."   Sometime, maybe about March or so, I started looking at things a little differently.  Maybe it wasn't Cannon as much as it was alllll the circumstances around Cannon that made life so challenging.  Because once my life slowed down, and by slowed down I mean no longer running at the pace like I was being chased by a monster.  Now, it's more a pace like like a steady jog-- I gotta keep moving, but I have time to reflect here and there.

Time to reflect and think about maybe it was the perfect storm that made things seem so difficult.  I mean, yes, Cannon is the third to two older,  rowd(ier) boys, and yes, he is more stubborn than the other two (combined!)  But, also, we've moved three times and sold two houses in his two short years.  Perhaps my struggles with all that left me convinced that Cannon was the hardest.  Don't get me wrong, he was hard- he bit, scratched, and yelled whenever the mood struck. But, I now think had all the other stuff not been going on I would have chalked it up to typical toddler behavior. 

Bottom line is- maybe Cannon got a bad rap.  Because life is getting sweeter and smoother each day. And the increased sweetness is coming largely from my little Cannon.  Sweetness like as I'm tucking him into bed at night and he pats the pillow next to him asking me to "'nuggle".   I'm really looking forward to this fall when the older boys are in school and it's just me and C. 

He's biting more apples and less people these days.  We, and the rest of his victims, are very grateful for his change in appetite.  

This was at his two-year check up.  Dr. Jones was very impressed with his cooperation and overall happiness at being in a doctors office. 

Onto Cannon's birthday party....

How lucky for Cannon his birthday fell smack in the middle of girls weekend!  He celebrated surrounded with Aunts, Great-Grandmas, Grandma's, cousins, and a Godmother.  

Grammy made these adorable Elmo cupcakes and a Hulk Smash birthday cake.  Yeah for Grammy's!

Cannon really, really enjoyed getting to pop his candy-filled balloon's!

Uncle Justin wasn't able to be there in person, but he was there in i-time!  Cannon thought it was super cool to "feed" Justin a Smartie and watch is magically travel through the phone into Justin's mouth.  What are the odds Justin would have a similar enough candy on his end to make the illusion complete?!

Girls Weekend Texas Style

Another Girls Weekend has come and gone.  As in true GW fashion, our time was defined by "go time" or "down time."  Prior to everyone's arrival, Mom sent out an email that looked like this:

 It detailed what everyone needed-and didn't-need to bring.  Kind of a 'get excited' letter.  

Upon arrival the GW gang found this on their bed.  An hour-by-hour, day-by-day itinerary of what's to come. 

Mom and I took great effort to make sure our days had a good amount of activities mixed in with some downtime.  Think you could hang with us?  I'll give you a blow-by-blow of our six days together.  Yes, six days!  Girls Weekend just doesn't cut it anymore. 

Day 1-  Our celebration officially kicked off around 3 p.m. after all the planes arrived.  Our first stop was a late lunch at Chick-fil-a.  This may seem a little lame, but for our Northern family members, this place is a gem!  They love it! 

After lunch we headed over to get pedicures (gotta start off right with nice looking toes!)  

We ended day one with sundaes, snacks, and lots of chatting.

Day 2-  Our day started off early with our large ten party crew heading to the new Bush library and museum at the SMU campus.  However, before our tour started we stopped off and had lunch at this fantastic burger place.  I highly recommend the bison--covered in cheese and mushrooms!

As museums go, this one was entertaining.  There's a 'decision room' where you get to pretend to be the president and make tough decisions based on the briefing of various people.  Also, there's an exact replica of the oval office.  

We arrived back home around five, just enough time to get started on our pie night!

That would be dinner consisting of ordered pizza, homemade Pillsbury veggie pizza, and a sugar cookie and fruit pizza for dessert.  

Is there finally some down time?? No!  It was now time to exercise with an evening walk and then back home for gel nail manicures.  

 Whew! Now it's officially down time!

Day 3- This day started off doing something none of us have ever done before.  That would be climbing aboard this unusual-looking thing and pedaling our tushies off throughout downtown Fort Worth. 

This beast, otherwise known as the Cowtown Cycling Pub, is a mobile bar on a bike.  Or, a series of bikes, in this case.  Grandma got the best seat in the house--that would be the only seat without pedals at your feet!  She was right, though, when she said her 77 years of life has earned her a pedal-free ride.  She was the official "waver."  She smiled and waved at everyone as they gazed upon our odd vehicle.

But, for the rest of us, it was the furthest thing from a free ride.  It was two hours of sweating and working!  Along with donuts, sausage rolls, trail mix, and perhaps a margarita or two.  

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Now, this was a GW first.  Gasp!  Are those outsiders?!  Why, yes they are.  Outsiders by the name of Nancy and Shanita.  See, I was slightly concerned about our ability to move this pub with only eight of us pedaling, so....I enlisted the help of my two good friends.  Friends I knew would meld well with all that makes up a Pitsenbarger girl and also friends that have some good leg power.  No wimpy friends allowed!  

 

We did get to take a couple breaks during our two hour adventure.  One of them was a stop at the Fort Worth Water Gardens.  Here's a little video of what that looked like.  

After the cycle pub we headed home for much-needed showers and then out for some much-needed shopping. 

 Below is a little collection of pictures taken to show how much you do not want to tell a Pitsenbarger where you're going to be and then not be there. 

You will get a butt-chewing!

For dinner we headed to the Fort Worth food park. This is where multiple food trucks are gathered, along with live music and shady trees.  It made eating a little more exciting!

Day 4- Started off with a few Pitsenbargers going on a hike.  The rest of us stayed home to get ready for Cannon's second birthday party!  That's right, my baby boy turned two!

Cannon has a post all his own for his second birthday, but here's one little picture of the festivities.  After lunch, presents, and cake, we headed over to our neighborhood pools. 

This is one of the biggest reasons I love my neighborhood.  This swim center has brought us hours of entertainment this summer.  We spent our afternoon here and then headed home to get ready for our evening activity. 

 Steve was a GW champ this year, because he volunteered to watch cousin, Henry, not once, but twice!  (I think he really enjoyed it! Especially giving Henry all the off-limit foods!)  It was nice for Ashly (Henry's Momma) to get to participate in some activities baby-free.  Our next activity was one of those things.

I'm not sure when it started, probably about ten years ago or so, but the tradition of having a craft has grown strong.  Mom and I were excited when we came up with the idea of  'Painting with a Twist.' 

Painting with a twist starts with a blank canvas-very overwhelming-but with the help of an instructor giving step-by-step instructions (and perhaps a glass of wine or two), you end up creating a picture you didn't think possible.  

Grandma rocked the painting!

Like myself, Aunt Mindy had to look to others to see what we were supposed to be doing.  Sometimes the drinking left us a little behind!

For the Chinese, the cherry blossom is a very significant symbol of power. Typically it represents  feminine beauty and sexuality and often holds an idea of power or feminine dominance.  Yep, that's exactly why we chose the picture.

Aunt Patti enjoyed the painting the least.  I think there was too little wine and too much pressure!   Next time, Aunt Pat, next time.  

We made it home sometime around 10 p.m.  After some late night snacks and chatting we made it into bed.  Man, these are long, busy days!

Day 5- We finally made it to our relaxing day.  And by relaxing I mean it started with a morning exercise/visit to the splash park followed by some afternoon shopping.

Harrison and Gavin had their first swim meet that afternoon.  Typically  I would feel bad about this interrupting GW, but since we were into DAY 5!! I thought it would be okay.  

 This is Gavin's serious don't-mess-with-me face!
The fact that he placed sixth doesn't matter, he's got the face down!

After the swim meet we said adios to the boys and went to dinner at BJ's 

We wrapped up dinner and went over to G-Jo's house for game night.  

 The game was fun and as a result we didn't make it back home until midnight!  Ugh! So much for  relaxing day!

Day 6- Sadly, the close of Girl's Weekend Texas Style.  This day was spent packing, snacking, and saying goodbyes.  I'm not positive, but my guess is the next day everyone spent catching up on sleep!  Next year is slated for Michigan. Happy planning you Michigan girls!

Happy Father's Day

I had the boys answer some questions about Steve as their Father's Day cards.

Some of the boys comments made me for real LOL.  Here's Gavin's highlights:

My Dad is funny because "Farts everywhere he walks!"

My Dad thinks I'm funny when "I fart and burp." 

My Dad's job is "I don't know......Daddy works?!"

Harrison's highlights:

My Dad is funny because "He farts."

My Dad thinks I'm funny when "I fart."

Let me add here the boys answered these questioned independent of each other.  So, to confirm what you're now probably thinking--YES, there is A LOT of farting and burping that goes on in our house! The testosterone is loud and proud.

                  

                                                 My Dad's favorite thing to do  is "Be lazy." 

The one every child should hear from their parent: My Dad always says "Good job." 

My Bruiers love their Daddy to the moon and back.  And why wouldn't they?  According to them, not only does he fart and burp (which is universally funny to boys) but he laughs when they fart and burp.  He's always game for a nice round of wrestling and has no problem going into full character of whatever Superhero he's been assigned.  There are no hard rules on Dad's watch and he can be talked into most a-n-y-t-h-i-n-g!  The most important part, however, is he loves his Bruiers to the moon and back, too. 

A G-Jo Adventure

Hi everyone.  It's Gavin.  I want to share my G-Jo Adventure.  For my Christmas present from G-Jo this year, I got to go on a BIG adventure with her--She's my Mommy's Mom.  We got on an airplane and flew to Ohio.  Ohio is where a lot of my relatives live.  I have lots of cousins there. And my Grandma and Grandpa Pits.  And some Aunts and Uncles. One of my cousins, Dominic, graduated from high school.

                                                    This is Dominic and me on his horse.

So, here I am, hanging out at the Airport McDonalds.  Did you know they have McDonalds at the Airport?  They are EVERYWHERE.

We get on the plane and I was scared.  G-Jo kept telling me everything would be okay, but I was still scared.  Then the Flight Attendant asked me if I wanted something to drink and things got a lot better. 

And here I am, at the Airport in Ohio.  Grandma Pits gave me a big hug.  Grandpa was waiting in the car. 

Guess where we are here?  Some restaurant called Bob Evans. Hated it!  They didn't bring any chips and salsa.  Can you believe that?  I asked the guy where they were, he got this funny look on his face and said this wasn't Texas.  I knew that.

G-Jo and I stayed at my cousin Andy's house.  I'm gonna tell you more about that in a minute.  But see that donut?  We're at this place called the Sweet Shop.  I sat on a stool that you couldn't move and had Trumoo chocolate milk, a cookie and a donut.  It was awesome!

Aunt Julie thought my breakfast foods were funny.  She laughs a lot!

Okay, so I told you G-Jo and I stayed with my cousin, Andy.  Well this is Andy.  We put together this awesome Lego jeep I got at the airport. All I could do was look at the box until I got to Andy's.   He puts together lots of Lego stuff, so he's really good at it. 

And here I am with my Lego Jeep all put together, Thanks, Andy!  Heading from Andy's house now to Grandma Pits' house. I had to walk with G-Jo.  It took a long, long time.  Andy lives so far from Grandma Pits.  G-Jo doesn't have a car in Versailles so we had to walk. 

Guess who was at Grandma Pits'?  Grandma Pits!  And my cousin Emily and her boyfriend, Max.  They were just chillin'. 

I got to have a special day while I was on my adventure with G-Jo.  It was a day where Aunt Julie, G-Jo and I did things, just us, and no one else.  We went to this town called Greenville and fed the ducks.  There were so many ducks, it was way cool.

Then we came back to Aunt Julie's house and flew a kite.  We had trouble keeping it up, but it was still lots of fun.

Then Uncle Rod took me on a Gator ride.  OMG, it went FAST!

Then Aunt Julie, G-Jo and I made cut-out sugar cookies.  We made SOOO many! 

Here's my highlight--Aunt Julie made homemade potato chips.  Now let me tell you how to make homemade potato chips.  First you have to have a cooker.  Then you have this thing that is like gray that you put the potato in then you spin it around and the potato gets cut really small.  Then you put them in the cooker and wait.  Then you have to scoop them out of the cooker with this big spoon.  They are so hot and SOO good.  My dad is going to get a cooker so we can make them at my house.

The next day was fun, but G-Jo and Aunt Julie had to work at Aunt Peg's house because they were getting ready for Dominic's high school graduation.  See Uncle Clay behind me?  Yeah, well, he's not really very happy right now.  He took me to a store and bought me this candy thing.  I wanted other stuff, but this was what I got.  I don't think he's really mad at me, he just looks like it. 

So, things were going okay at Aunt Peg's house.  I was chillin and hanging with the other kids.  Then the guy who owns the farm came in and told me I would be doing some work.  That's when I learned what "mucking" the chicken coop was all about.  The guy who owns the farm is my Uncle Mark.  He also had me gather eggs.  And then.....

I had to chase this chicken back into the coop.  He was one fast chicken.  But I finally did it. 

 

So, I mucked the chicken coop, gathered eggs, caught a chicken (well, chased him back to the pen) and then gathered trash.  Then I got to light the fire to burn the trash--all by myself.  I'm telling you the truth.  I really did get to start the fire.   The guy who owns the farm let me do it.  He knows I'm five and can handle it, I guess.

There's me in the Versailles Town Square.

And me hugging my cousin Finley.

Everyone place we would go I would ask G-Jo if my Godmother would be there.  She would say, not yet.  Then we'd go to another place and I'd ask again and she'd say, not yet.  Finally on Sunday, the day of Dominic's graduation I got to see Maddy.  She's my Godmother and I love her.  I was so happy to see her! 

And me, chillin, again, at the airport waiting to fly home.  I did so many things.  I jumped on the trampoline, drove my cousin, Callie's car, stayed up very late the night of Dominic's party (so late that I was the only kid my age still at the party).  G-Jo said if I'm gonna hang with her, that's the way it is. I don't think she wants to miss anything by leaving too soon--me either. It was the best adventure G-Jo and I have ever had.  I can't wait for the next one.  

 

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