LOST POST: Cody & Jeannie Go To Prom

I realized I was consumed with planning for our roadtrip that I skipped over a few events in our life that I feel are worth mentioning.  One of them being CoDiY & I celebrating our 3 year wedding anniversary & the update on us chaperoning my brother’s prom!  To right my wrongs, I’m posting them now, starting with Prom Pose:

Saturday, May 18th, was one of the best days CoDiY & I have ever experienced.  Those that don’t know, My husband & I were asked to chaperon my younger brother’s prom {Back story click here} due to security reasons we weren’t able to attend {BUMMER!} BUT we were able to participate in everything that lead up to it which is going to be a lasting memory in our hearts forever.

The day started with the traditional pre-prom photos

 

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We met up with the other prom goers at the high school:

Stephen

Aaron

and John

His teacher, Mrs. Copeland, had the idea to escort them to prom.

She thought it was just going to be a simple endeavor; her loading them in the car, getting to prom, & dancing the night away, but when Bridget, the Special Education Director, told her daughter, Manny, about their plan, she was ADAMANT that the boys have the full experience.  Manny immediately offered herself as a date & was able to get three of her friends to attend as well.  These girls are not only selfless, outgoing, fun, smart, but they’re BEAUTiFUL college students who drove all the way from Austin to accompany the boys.  After the dates fell into place, and word got around, and someone generously prepaid for them to rent tuxedos from Men’s Warehouse, Then another charitable sole donated their corsages & boutonnieres.

After contacting multiple limo service companies, I was able to find one that gave us a HUGE discount {thank you Continental Limousine Service for EVERYTHiNG, You guys really came through.  The driver was very sweet, & good karma is coming your way.}

Since it was the boys first time to ride in a limo, we made sure to take tons of photos on the way to dinner.

I will always be an HUGE endorser for Tommy Bahamas in the Woodlands.  Bridget has a friend whose son is a waiter there who was sweet enough to speak to his manager about having a special place set up for our group.  The manager was/is AMAZiNG.  He had a big table in the back room {so it wasn’t as noisy, Autistic people tend to be sensitive to noise}, since they knew we were on a VERY tight budget, he had a special menu printed out for us with options at a discounted price {this makes me tear up, it was such a sweet touch}.

Since Stephen’s date was meeting us at Tommy Bahamas I was his stand in {Sorry Cody, you’re old news!}.   After Stephen accepted my offer, he was such a gentleman!  He opened the restaurant’s door for me and said, “After you dear.” And before the waiter came around to ask us what we wanted to drink, he personally asked me, then answered the waiter for the both of us {which I thought was FANTASTiC that Mrs. Copeland taught them that, GENIUS!}.  He would just keep calling me Dear and my heart melted every time!  Sadly, for me, his real date showed up, and this girl was HILARIOUS.  Her car had broken down on the way there from Austin, but that didn’t stop her.  Her parents picked her up and took her straight to the restaurant.  She did her hair, make-up, & got dressed in the car, she’s the definition of trooper.

Once our faces were stuffed a boat ride on the Woodlands Waterway was next on the agenda, BUT John got a tad side tracked… This kid knows his cars!  He can identify a car just by seeing the roof, I am NOT exaggerating, this boy knows his vehicles.  When you meet him, his first question will be, “What kind of car do you drive?”  and he’ll know things about it, it’s very impressive!  So, you can imagine his delight when he saw these cars parked outside!

Once we got the shot(s) it was off to the Waterway, this was the boys favorite part of the evening {prior to prom, of course}.  If you’ve never been on the boat taxi, do it!  It is so relaxing, and they make for great photos.  Luckily, the boat wasn’t ready to ship off yet so we were able to get in a few posed photos.  This is my favorite time to shoot pictures, just before the sun sets, the lighting is perfect.

Once on the water taxi, we all relaxed, it felt incredible outside, the sun was just setting, “So romantic.” Tony {my brother} whispered at one point.

They would’ve staid on that boat the entire night if we let them. 

We told stories, we danced, & we laughed, a lot

One of my favorite memories of that night, was when Cody took off his jacket.  I know that seems odd, or “perverse,” but it’s actually a sweet memory because once he draped his jacket on the table, all the boys did. 

Each boy looked to Cody for what & how they should act.  We hadn’t noticed it until that moment & it’s something Mrs. Copeland filled us in on later.  Apparently the boys were so nervous about the night, and having dates, she told them, “if you get confused, just watch Cody and do what he does.” It really touched our hearts, and it really sank in how much of an effect you can have on someone, and I’m not talking about us to them, just the opposite!  These boys, and that night, are imprinted in our heads.

“Like all good things, they must come to an end…” this statement couldn’t be more true for this particular night.  Once we docked it was time for the limo to wisp these high schoolers to prom, so  Cody & I said our goodbyes.

We cannot express how much fun we had.  The boys were full of pure joy, that you were too.  Our cheeks literally hurt by the end of the night from smiling & laughing so hard.  My heart grew three times bigger to store the love & bond that was formed that night.  I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to be a part of their night & their memories…

Here are the rest of our photos.  ENJOY!

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July: Speed Posting

Since I'm in dire need to catch up to our life's current events, I’m going to do what I like to call, “Speed Posting.”
This was our July in a nut shell {that's what she said}

The beginning of July was mainly dedicated to unpacking and getting back to our “normal,” pace of life, and since we didn’t hold back while in California, our 1^st few weekends back was dedicated to saving money, so naturally, I took photos of my fury children.

This is Diesel & Lashes sharing D's new bed during their traditional noon nap

Going through boxes in our office we discovered a pair of butterfly wings that I wore Halloween 2002, so unsurprisingly, we put them on the dogs

He's so purdy

We got to spend an evening with Cody’s brother, Patrick, his wife Kellie, our two nieces {Brianna & Marissa}, and our two awesome friends, Chris & Kara.  We had dinner at an Italian restaurant that I can’t for the life of me remember the name, BUT I did snap a cute pic with my BFF Brianna.

On July 22^nd Cody & I celebrated our 8 year anniversary.  Since we’re now married, we don’t exchange gifts, but we do acknowledge the date by going out to dinner.  Here we are in the Outback Steak House parking lot about to stuff our faces with steak, loaded baked potatoes, & a salad… YUM!

So I was sent an article about a recall on chicken jerky that was actually causing dogs to DIE…. YES, you read this correctly, to DIE!  To be extra careful I snopes’d it and it is true!  I also found out that Blue Buffalo’s chicken dog food is from China too, so some of their products were recalled.  Costco, Wal-mart, Sam’s Club, & Target all carried these treats and food {not their fault, but just be aware}, here is the snopes’ link: http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/chickenjerky.asp

So because of this, I did what every rational mom would do…I baked my dogs homemade treats!  I baked 2 different flavors, Banana & Peanut butter and Carrots & Spinach.  I used our food processor to puree the ingredients and then I baked them in a muffin tin for 20minutes & 350 degrees.  The dogs LOVED them!

Since Cody’s 1^st weekend away didn’t go bad, he didn’t feel guilty spending another weekend away, but this time, he and his two brothers had a man’s weekend in Bedias, TX {right outside of Huntsville} spending time with their uncle & grandfather.  While he was fishing, eating beef jerky, & drinking beer; I was gallivanting around town with three of my favorite people, Kara “kare bear” Gianni, Matt “Heathcliff” Hankins, & Shilpa Anjali.  I started my day with Kara by shopping at the outlet mall, lunch at Newk’s, & ending our day date with Channing Tatum’s “Magic Mike.” {I was NOT impressed with this movie… you can wait for it to be on HBO, or TBS.  I can’t believe there is already a second one being filmed!!}.  After Kara dropped me off, I ran inside, touched up my makeup, changed into “night on the town” attire, and headed to Cyclone Anaya’s {a very yummy Mexican restaurant!} to meet up with Matt & Shilpa.  After dinner we walked to the new Little Woodrows in the Heights.  This is where we consumed the majority of our beer, which lead us to take a shot, which lead us to Pub Fiction, and this is where the below photos were born.  Shilpa decided that I need color on my lips, so she whipped out the red lipstick and dolled me up… I do love it, but I also feel like red lipstick ON ME, makes me look slutty {no, not my cleavage, the red lipstick!} so naturally, to modest me up, a mu-stash {no, not a mustache, this was fancier} a mu-stash, was needed.  I think she did a fantastic job making it even!

My good friend Kristin was assigned to our project in Australia, she had been there for over six months, and was finally coming home to visit!  While down under {that’s what she said!} she celebrated a milestone, she turned 30 years old, so I had to throw her a mini party during her short stay.  Jacque attack suggested this new bar that opened up called, J. Black’s.  They have other locations in Austin & Dallas, so I’m very happy they opened up one here, because it’s amazing!  They are a big parties dream, especially if you’re splitting checks {the Jew in me really LOVES this!}.  Everyone’s drinks and food is on a bar tab, and their food=DELICIOUS!

{Side Note, TOTALLY unrelated to anything I’ve been typing, but I was JUST interrupted by my friend/co-worker and I brought up being too lazy to use the restroom, and she replied, “only when I’m sleepy.” Which made me think of that dream where you’re in the restroom and you wake up to discover that you wet the bed, have ya’ll done that?  I have.  Okay, moving on…} Back to J. Black’s, Go there, it's awesome!

The above photos were welcoming a friend back from Australia & the below photos are sending a friend there.  Our good friend Joe “Hulk Smash” Monroe was offered a position that he couldn’t refuse so to bid him adieu we organized a happy hour at OTC Patio Bar.  We only stayed there for about 15 min. due to no A/C and being bitten by bugs so we walked next door to Hendricks’ where we had a BLAST!  The bartender was hilarious, the opening of the Olympics was being aired, their drink specials were priced right, and their $5 pizzas… *kisses finger tips and slightly opens them as my hand goes into the air* LIP-SMACKING GOOD!

As a thank you for Cody volunteering & accompanying my little brother to Dallas {to read about that, click here}, my mom bought all of us theater tickets to watch, “Disney’s The Lion King,” at the Hobby Center, for their AUTISM THEATRE INITIATIVE.  In the Hobby Center’s Words, “The Hobby Center is proud to announce the launching of our Lion King Autism Theatre Initiative, making live theatre accessible to children on the autism spectrum and their families. The first ever autism-friendly performance of a Broadway show in Houston will be Disney's land mark musical THE LION KING, on Saturday, July 28th at 2:00pm.  Now in its 15th year, over 64 million people worldwide have come to discover the wonder, the majesty, and the truly one-of-a-kind experience that is THE LION KING. For this special performance, accommodations will be made, including a supportive audience environment, designated quiet areas, adjustments to light and sound, and online resource materials.”

These tickets are normally $100 and up but for this initiative, they were priced between $25-60 {thank you Hobby Center & contributors that made this possible}. 

It still makes me tear up when I think back at the sold out theater filled with autistic & other special need families.  To see them dressed up & able to enjoy a show without having to worry if their loved one will be “a bother” to those around was truly a blessing.  The hobby center did a FANTASTIC job at catering to Autistic people.  They had quiet rooms set up so if they needed to get away, they could.  They had what they called, “fidget” kooshballs to keep hands busy, & they held up green glow sticks at the parts of the show that were going to be loud to warn us to cover the ears of those that are sensitive to sound.  It was AMAZiNG!  This was my mother, my brother, & Cody’s first time to attend a show, and it was probably the best one they could have attended. 

The Lion King itself was THE BEST SHOW I HAVE EVER SEEN, the costumes were sensational, the singing was beautiful, and the audience interaction was so cool, my husband is hooked now!  We decided to collect throw blankets from every show we attended, because during the intermission Cody had to go and buy us one because it was FREEEEEEEZING in there!  The blanket is huge though, it covered all of us, and for some reason, that made it even more fun. 

After the show we headed into Tomball to eat at Mel’s Country Cafe, again, GO THERE!  They have amazing burgers & dessert! 

It was a perfect day that I can relive in memory, over & over again. 

Thanks mom for buying us the tickets!!!

Dallas Special Olympic Tennis Adventure

For the 1^st time in our marriage and the 2^nd time since we’ve been together, Cody went away for a weekend. He graciously accompanied my little brother to a Tennis Camp in Dallas.  For those that don’t know, my little brother, Anthony/Tony, is special needs {he’s an high functioning Autistic 22 year old}.  Lucky for our family, we recently found a day camp that he can attend, The Raj Hope Foundation.  On this particular weekend they arranged for the group to go to Dallas to train with professional tennis players and stay at the country club {so cool}! 

Here is Cody’s rendition of his weekend:

The day started with us piling into the Raj Foundation bus and I could only image the fun we were going to have.  As Bruce, Ashlynn, Jenny, Tony, and I head out, I was thinking I would need to “entertain,” but that wasn’t anywhere near the situation!!  Ashlynn fell right to sleep, Jenny was jamming on her ipod, and Tony read a book.  This let me and Bruce {Ashlynns dad} able to get to know one another.  About an hour outside of Dallas the words “Dairy Queen ice cream,” woke Ashlynn up, the iPod turned off, and Tony closed his book.  Everyone got to stretch their legs, enjoy some ice cream, me a burger, and Tony some tacos, haha.  Once we got to the Hotel and inside our room, we found ourselves in basically a nice one bedroom apartment with a kitchenette!!  The first think we had to do once we got there, was participate in a "Skills," class, which taught the kids/adults the basics of tennis

  After skills class and some R&R, we met in the lobby for dinner at Salt Grass (remember Tony and I just ate less than 2 hours ago!)  Tony had to have the shrimp and I got a chicken fried steak.  It was delicious!

Now Saturday morning has come around and its free breakfast so we take advantage of it J.  Eggs, bacon, sausage, waffles, you name it!!  Tony had to get fueled for his 1st day of Tennis, which was playing singles, and he was looking very stylish in his new fedora.

If you’ve never been to a special Olympics… GO!!  It is the most fun you will ever have!  Your face will hurt from smiling and laughing with everyone.  After the end of day 1 and couple of hard loses we head back to the hotel where the kids had a choice of swimming or going to a dance.  Tony wanted to swim so we head over to pool with a few other kids.  After a good hour of soaking it up in the hot tub he want to go over to the dance to, “check it out.”  Now this is something you have to go to see as well.  These kids have some moves, haha.

All great things come to an end and the dance did at 10 L, so we head back to our hotel room to get ready for bed since we had to wake up early.  Unfortunately, Tony didn’t take his medication until 10:30 at night, the side effect… DROWSINESS!!  I woke Tony up after my shower at 6:15, he sat straight up but still had his eyes closed.  At 6:20 he was laid back down and covered back up!  I yelled, “TONY!”  He popped his head up (eyes still closed).  He reluctantly plated his feet onto the floor, yes, eyes still closed, haha.  Now that I have him out of the bed and getting ready I can start getting all our stuff together so we can leave.  He goes into the bathroom to brush his teeth but I don’t hear anything, for a long time...  HE IS SLEEPING STANDING UP!! Hahaha…  Once we finally started moving around and got out of the room, we ate some breakfast and then headed to the tennis courts where it is a doubles day.  After waking Tony up from the couch in the club house he went out to play his doubles match. 

With another day full of fun, laughs, and with a couple more tough loses, we headed back to the hotel to change for the award ceremony, dinner, and raffle. 

We were served delicious burgers and fries while Miss Texas Universal Dream Queen, the guest speaker, gave a speech on being true to yourself.  The kids loved her!  After her speech, she helped call out the tickets for the raffle, and wouldn’t you know it, Tony had his ticket called!!  As he walked up to collect his prize he, of course, has Miss Texas stop calling out numbers so she can take a picture with him, haha. {smooth move Anthony!}.

It was such a great weekend and I would do it again in a heartbeat!!