Home on the Range

Christmas 2011

2012-01-05T09:37:00.000-08:00

We had ourselves a fairly quiet and happy Christmas weekend. Friends joined us for dinner and hanging out on the 23rd, and then for Christmas Eve we had a quick dinner and went to see a neighborhood in our city that is known for being decked out with lights and decorations. It did not disappoint. We left as it was getting really crowded and came home to settle in for the night. After reading the Christmas story and Twas the Night Before Christmas, we put the kids to bed so we would have plenty of time for Santa to do his thing.

Tessa was wide eyed and brimming with excitement. We heard her get out of her bed to use the bathroom again after about twenty minutes in her room, where she assured us she just wanted to make sure she wasn't going to wake up for any reason. She didn't want to take the chance that she'd see Santa and interrupt the present giving.

Here she is with her Littlest Pet Shop bike that Santa surprised her with:
Here's our cowboy:
He talked about a black cowboy hat every time we talked about Santa, so I'm glad Santa carried through.

Opening the boots from Mom and Dad:

So stylish.
"Gummy Saver?"
And that's where the photo documentation ends. We had a yummy breakfast after going through Santa presents and parent presents and then got ready for church. A great web cam visit with Grandpa and Grandma M. was up next. We headed to church and had a really nice service; the kids behaved pretty well for me considering Dad was up singing with the choir. Afterward we were able to computer visit with my dad and Sandy and also my mom and open presents with them in turn.

I'm so grateful for technology that allows us to have meaningful face to face interaction with loved ones on Christmas.

All in all, it was a lovely day after that crazy building up to it month.

Then came the days where we enjoyed hanging out with Jake at home! Projects galore.

Happy New Year, everybody. May 2012 be everything you decide it will be.

Tessa Turns Five

2012-01-03T14:48:00.000-08:00

My baby girl turned five on December 3. It was fun to have Grandma Lori here to celebrate with us. We had a low key family celebration with presents, cake, and then a movie outing with her friend Anna to see The Muppets. She was a happy girl.

Hooray for fancy dental hygiene!

The clear winner of the night:

Love my five going on fifteen year old.

My Mama

2011-12-15T09:10:00.000-08:00

My mom came for a visit after Thanksgiving! We were so happy to get her for a few days to celebrate during the holiday season, and to have her here for Tessa's birthday. And because I'm awesome, the only picture I got of her while she was here is this one below that Jake took with his phone while Cole was getting his face painted. I tried to edit my children's eyes so they didn't glow demonically, but it made it even scarier. We'll keep the glow.We went to the Plano Dickens Festival one evening and had a great time with the music, Santa and Mrs. Claus visit, treats, a train ride, a short bell concert, a ghetto blow up slide in the dark, and a bit o' face painting. Tessa wanted a heart painted on her cheek, while Cole asked for a candy cane --and held still while getting it done.

The Clauses and the kids:
From Santa, Tessa made her Littlest Pet Shop wishes known, and Cole said he wanted Christmas, and I think maybe a cowboy. We had so much fun with my mom here and were zipping all over town together. Tessa loved having Grandma Lori here for her birthday and being able to hang out with her. Cole, likewise, kept her entertained and loved having her here. Baby girl did all kinds of jumping jacks in my belly for her to feel as an official introduction.

We were a little sniffly and stuffed up, like most everyone else, and immediately Mom entered the take care of us mode --especially Tessa who, I'm sure, woke her up at least once every night.

We were grateful Grandma could take the time to make her way our direction, especially at this time of year.

Bigger Ride

2011-12-15T09:00:00.001-08:00

Her name is Cecelia.She's a little intimidating, but I'm getting more and more comfortable with her every day.

I had to say goodbye to my Escort. She was good to me and stuck by my side for about 10 years. She got me from point A to point B safely and regularly without many problems --something I had not experienced with my previous vehicles. I loved her. However, our soon to be two car seats and one booster in the back seat just wasn't happening.

But this new baby's got back. We'll fit in Cecelia.

Plus, I get to have power locks and power windows for the first time, along with a few other niceties. I feel so fancy. And loaded down with a car payment. :)

Thanksgiving 2011

2011-12-09T12:30:00.000-08:00

Jake's cousin Andy and his family came up from San Antonio for Thanksgiving this year. It was so fun getting to know them and spend time with them.

The kids first met the morning of Thanksgiving. They, of course, got along immediately and settled down to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade after breakfast:

The weather was mild, so the dads raked up a big pile of leaves and played Toss the Kids in the Leaves and Bury the Kids in the Leaves for a while. They loved it (the kids and the dads).
Our big tree is a hard one to resist:
Our families split up the meal responsibilities and came up with a wonderful dinner. I brined a turkey for the first time, and I think it was worth it. It was certainly the prettiest turkey I'd ever cooked. Amanda made the stuffing from scratch and produced the only stuffing I've ever really liked. Woot! We were both able to visit family via the web cam that day --we're definitely grateful for that technology. That evening after the kids went down, the adults had a great time playing games. I love playing games, especially on holidays.

The next day we ventured to McKinney for the Dickens of a Christmas Festival.

Caramel popcorn and a Christmas movie on TV. What a way to end the day!
On Saturday, we had a tailgate breakfast (first time for everything) at SMU. Hooray for free breakfast! It was morning and it was a little cold, so the undergrads weren't exactly out in full force, which meant more free t-shirts, chocolate milk samples, and shorter lines for us. The kids high-fived the SMU Mustang mascot on the way out, and we took off for Fort Worth.

The giant spur. Tell me you wouldn't mind having one of these babies in your yard:
It was so cold and windy!!!! We didn't explore as much as we would have had the weather been a little more cooperative, but we still made the most of it in the covered shops stockyard area.

Cowboy Santa was there:

AND there was free face painting. Cole was excited to see so much cowboy stuff and really wanted a cowboy hat. He is still talking about needing a cowboy hat.

We went to have lunch at Riscky's BBQ.
Our awesome guests: Amanda, Zach, Andy, Tyler, and Lizzie.
In my experience, two year olds don't usually play nicely with each other, but Zach and Cole were cracking each other up over the weekend. Cole adored "Zachy". We really had such a nice visit and were grateful to the cousins for taking time to come and spend Thanksgiving with us. It's now our turn to make our way to San Antonio when we can.

The videos always end up at the bottom of the posts. Here is Tessa dancing for a couple to the live musicians in the street at the Dickens Festival. I love how I could see in her eyes that she knew she was knocking out some serious Irish dancing moves.

Really?!?

2011-11-15T11:31:00.001-08:00

I'm getting my grocery shopping list together and planning out my part of Thanksgiving. Yay! For fun! I'm getting a little daring with a certain recipe and I need to find candied ginger. I've never shopped for candied ginger before. I only need 1 and 1/2 teaspoons of it, so I wondered if I could find it in a bin/sell by the pound place instead of having to buy a bag somewhere. I googled Whole Foods. Why not? They got me with a side link to "twelve healthier seasonal favorites" with a couple beautiful pictures of salads. Yum! Well, when we click over to see the other "favorites", we get this in the mix:

It's called "Celebration Lentil Loaf", although exactly what would be celebratory about it is beyond me. The song "One of these things is not like the other..." is now in my head. I'm just curious to know exactly which favorite of yours will be replaced with this beauty this Thanksgiving and what your guests' reactions might be.

Trunk or Treat and Halloween

2011-11-02T12:59:00.000-07:00

I was so happy that our ward's Trunk or Treat was NOT on Halloween. Then we could celebrate two days and not feel like we were missing out on other things we wanted to do on the actual holiday. This results in too much candy, but a lot of fun.

I did not think through dressing the mom and dad up this year. I didn't have the energy for it like I did last year. I had the kids basically covered weeks ago, but I stopped there. One thing is for certain, though, and that is that we, the parents, DO dress up. No matter how lame. No matter what. It's Halloween. So, we scrambled.We've got our cute pirate and witch. And then we've got me, the ninja with a pregnant belly (I wish I would have staved off the coming trunk or treaters a little longer and done a ninja pose for the camera.) Best of all, in my opinion is Jake. He was a grown up Harry Potter. We laughed so hard the night before about it. All he had to do was draw a scar on his head and make a wand. We laughed about how now Harry has gained a few and works a desk job like so many others since he defeated evil way back in the day. The glory days back in high school. I laughed so hard I had tears streaming down my face. So, even if no one else appreciated it, I appreciated Jake's sense of humor and willingness immensely.
Halloween Night! I use the word "diva" sparingly, but with the pose she chose, I've got nothin' else for ya.
My pirate. Cole kept his hat on for candy. Good kid.

Jake took the kids into Dallas to the home/neighborhood of a coworker's. She loves Halloween and wanted to see our kids and basically spoil them. Jake made his way home from work, took the kids trick or treating down our street where a whopping two doors actually opened for us (our good friend across the street bought candy specifically for our children and after we left, she shut off her light and left), and then he took off for that neighborhood that actually likes holidays and children. Imagine that! We live in a safe and polite neighborhood, but our next home will be in a neighborhood where people want neighbors....who talk to them....and who actively care about what's going on around them. I took on passing out candy duty that night, and I think my door ended up getting knocked on 5 times during the night (my porch light was the only one on on my street and I had my door open. I tried so hard to be inviting, but no one was out around here!). When the kids got home, Jake told me about their experience with the friendly dressed up adults handing out candy with such fun decorations and overall enthusiasm He said kids were everywhere and it's just what Halloween should look like. He was sad I didn't see it. I was sad I didn't see it. I will one day live it. :)
The most important thing is that my kids had a great Halloween this year. They had several opportunities to party, play, and enjoy the fun. For that I am so grateful!

Now on to Thanksgiving!

Pumpkins and Panther Preschool

2011-11-02T12:41:00.000-07:00

The Tuesday before Halloween was our designated jack o lantern night. Jake did one, with Cole helping to scoop out the guts, and then Tessa and I worked together. She drew the face on the pumpkin, and I carved it out. She was so proud.
You can't see the details that I loved the most, like the eyelashes and earrings.

Tessa had a Fall Festival at her school where they dressed up, played games, and paraded around for treats from some of the faculty at the high school where she attends school. Here she is listening to story time before the party got started.
These are all of the kids in the AM classes mixed together for one party. After the group pictures I was done with the camera. Keeping Cole from running through the school was my main focus.
One set of the teen teachers were having their last day with the kids, while another set came in to help and become acquainted for their own upcoming teaching time.

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T15:05:00.000-07:00

Could this possibly make you smile as much as it makes me smile?

Grandpa R comes to town

2011-10-27T09:10:00.000-07:00

We love company! My dad came to see us for a few days. The weather was gorgeous, fun things were going on, and the kids LOVED spending time with one of their grandparents.

First up, we went to pick up Jake after leaving the airport so we could go straight to the fair. You know how I adore the state fair.

Here is Dad, me, and Big Tex:
One can't miss place is the petting zoo.

We also hit the Doberman Dog Show, the car shows, the arts and crafts display (my favorite), and a few other places. We made sure to try a couple of state fair treats. We chose fried Autumn pumpkin pie and fried lemonade. I'm a sugar lover, but my tongue is still smarting from the thought of the intense amount of sweetness from the fried lemonade. Here we are in a small corner of the auto show with some antique cars:

We left the fair to get dinner at JG's Hamburgers --which is always a hit.

Another day we headed off to the Heard Nature Museum in McKinney. Tessa was so excited to see the rocks, minerals, and fossils (really?) and ran back and forth making sure we all saw them as well.
Both kids were great with the small dinosaurs that started the Dinosaur Nature Trail, but once they got bigger, Cole didn't want much to do with them.
These dinosaurs moved and made noise. Even the eyes moved, which was really cool. Tessa knew the name of this particular dinosaur. (Cryolophosaurus???) Thanks again, PBS.

Neither of the children wanted anything to do with the T-rex. Size may have had something to do with it.
That same evening we went fishing over at Bethany Lakes Park. Cole was ready to rumble with his Cars fishing pole and his fishing hat. Man, this kid's cute:

Once we moved to a different location and were ready to call it quits, suddenly we found the hot spot. In a speedy amount of time we caught a total of 5 or 6 six fish. They weren't very large, so we threw them back. But it was fun to catch them.

Tessa caught the biggest one, which happened to be a Big Mouth Bass. Here's his big mouth:
I think she was really pumped that it wasn't a catfish. She is a little terrified of catfish and was not happy when we went to look around at Cabela's because she knew those ugly things were swimming in the tanks at the back of the store.
We had picnics, yummy Mexican food, World Series watching, more fishing, shelf building, and overall just a really nice visit. Thanks for coming, Dad!

Owens Pumpkin Farm

2011-10-25T14:50:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again --when the mommy blogger world is inundated with pictures of their kids with pumpkins. I am not one to disappoint.

I proudly present: My Kids and Pumpkins 2011.

He's not quite the poser his sister is:

When we got to the end to pick out our small pumpkin to take home, Cole was running away from me and throwing pumpkins over the fence. That was our cue to go home and nap.

We met a few friends here to hang out and have lunch. We had a really nice morning, which included feeding some goats and going on a hay ride.

What has two thumbs and loves Halloween?

2011-10-12T07:36:00.000-07:00

THIS girl. (Me, you goofs.)

Oh, the things I would do if I had a space in the budget just for Halloween. It's fun anyway. I make due with what I have for now. Especially when I can laugh at myself for doing this:

Steering clear of traumatization, I'm trying to teach my children how fun and PRETEND Halloween is. How can you not love a holiday where it's perfectly acceptable to dress up like a zombie, Care Bear, or Mr. Belvedere and venture into public proudly?

Tessa is getting pretty comfortable with Halloween fun as long as we stay away from spiders, bugs, and snakes. She'll get there too one day. Not that I'm a fan by any means, but they are fake and fantastic for decorations. Cole for now, though, does not appreciate the Halloween decoration aisles at the store with the skeletons, mummies, and giant spiders. That'll change when he's older, I'm sure. Until then, he's certainly happy to perfect his villain laugh while wearing a witch hat:
It makes me laugh so hard. Tessa, Cole, and I have had a few villain laugh competitions. My children are quite talented in this arena, if I say so myself, and are perfecting them for the end of this wonderful month.

And, like true Halloween lovers, they are excited for the coming candy.

Getting Prepared

2011-10-12T07:10:00.000-07:00

Oooooh, pretty shelves:I have been feeling like I needed to move it along on the preparedness front for a while now. We didn't even have a 72 hour kit, which I think is probably a good first move. I've got some #10 cans of food, but a can of dried peaches is a little more on the long term storage move and doesn't do you a whole lot of good in a hurry up and take care of things now emergency. We had some water stored in our garage, but with the Texas heat, that's not the best place. We needed to make some space in our storage unfriendly home to put it. We want to keep moving forward in emergency essentials and food storage. You just never know, right? We had a preparedness specialist from our ward come and chat with us one night about our goals and where to start. She gave us a date to have our family's 72 hour kits finished and to have water stored in the house. (Did you know a water pipe broke somewhere in Florida last year and there were a ton of people without fresh water for a few days? Yeah. There are a few reasons to have water stored.)

We did it! We met our goal. I'm missing a few Power Bars in there, and a couple other things I'd like to squish in, but we've got a family set of 72 hour backpacks. I was able to get a hygiene kit created as well. Our 72 hour kits are not perfect, but they are mobile, and they would keep us alive and well enough until we could get help if something happened. That works for me. We've got our fancy old fruit punch jugs set up on those shelves and sports equipment moved to the garage. The satisfaction of putting this together is enough to keep me from sneaking into the kits to steal the fruit snacks. I'll enjoy them in 6 months when we switch out the food.

Tessa's First Days

2011-10-11T10:52:00.000-07:00

It's taken me a while, but here are the pictures I took of Tessa on her first day of preschool:
She started preschool the day after we got back from England (beginning of September) and managed just fine. She's loved it, as I knew she would. Brother gets a little jealous when we drop her off, but it's only 2 1/2 hours, two times a week, so it's not like he's dashed to pieces over it. As long as he gets a sticker from the teacher when we pick her up, he's happy. Tessa has brought home all kind of art projects, and I'm grateful for a place that fosters her love of all things crafty --since I'm not winning any prizes in that area.

Then, this last week, we FINALLY started dance. You can watch the class on a monitor in the lobby area, and I had a lot of fun watching. Cole did not. He did have fun with the sucker Ms. Sharon gave him after class, along with the other students. Here is the hammy girl at home after ballet/creative movement class:

Cole wanted to get in on the pictures, but mainly he wanted to chuck a ball at us.
I'm excited to have Tessa in a studio where they can track her progress and be little more personal and interested than the community classes we've attended (which have been great, they're just over in 6 weeks). There were only four students in her class, and I loved that I could see the individual attention each received as they went through the class.

Beauty Parlor

2011-10-10T13:30:00.000-07:00

When Dad took off with friends for dinner before the priesthood session of general conference, the kids and I had friends over for dinner and beauty parlor time. I knew Tessa would LOVE to do something like this, so we made the plan a few days before to have the girls get their hair and nails done by the moms and to dress up.

Here are the final photos:

I put pink lip gloss on the girls, and they acted as though it was liquid gold :) Nice shoulder action, Tess.

Interesting eyes only pose, but we'll take it!

I had such a great time pampering Tessa because I could tell she felt like a million girly bucks.

They make me laugh.

He probably wondered what in the world we were doing:
And Cole got red racing stripes on a few of his nails. He was not about to be left out. When we were taking pictures, he was pretty upset that he didn't have a dress up outfit... until he got a hold of the swords and attacked us with them.
The happiness that comes from bludgeoning your mom:

Baby #3 Ultrasound Pics

2011-10-07T08:02:00.000-07:00

We've had issues with our scanner making nice with the computer, soI finally had Jake get it figured out enough for me to get these up.

She is a wiggly girl.

Here you can see a forearm and hand:
We've got a brief head/body shot:
Next is the twist around into a high five:
And then the left leg with the other leg folded under to show the right foot:
Jake took a long lunch so he could join us for the ultrasound. Cole didn't have a clue as to what was going on, so he was happy to wander around the office. Tessa knew what we were up for (thanks internet for the example pictures!) and was as supportive as a four year old could possibly be. She was fascinated by the screen. She kept telling me, "Good job, Mom." Thanks. Working on hard lying on this here table. And then I'd get a loud whispered, "Mom! Mom! I love you." My favorite --"Mom!" and then when I looked over, she had two thumbs up next to her huge grin.

We had a fantastic explanation as to what we were seeing. Everything looked good and healthy, and then we were informed we had a little girl coming our way and we could take that info to the bank. Tessa let loose an "I knew it! I knew it!"

Smiles all around, especially because I like having some shred of knowing what to expect. Hooray!

On the way out of the hospital, Jake had Cole, and I had Tessa by the hand. Jake said, "Tessa, you're going to have a little sister. You will have to teach her how to dance and be a princess."

She responded with, "Yeah! And math."

I gave myself a silent and proud pat on the back for having a child who can enjoy and also defy the normal stereotypes by providing another facet to being a girl. "Yes, Tessa. AND math."

She then looked up at me and asked, "Mom? What's math?"

We burst out laughing.

Then we headed to Chili's for lunch.

It's a....

2011-09-23T12:29:00.001-07:00

SISTER!

See you in February, Sweetie.

photo c/o edupics.com

Day 9: Nottingham and Derbyshire, Day 10 and 11

2011-09-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

Day 9: Our first stop this morning? Back to the Crime and Punishment Museum, of course! This place was the old Nottingham courthouse and an actual prison that was shut down after attempting but never quite meeting the prison reform standards. Our tour consisted of only our two families. The Sheriff of Nottingham here began as our guide and made the perfect amount of condescending remarks for one of his status.

In the courtroom, Robin Hood was on trial. I cannot look at this picture without laughing. I have my reasons.

Here, I am reading a statement against Mr. Hood as Maid Marian.

The gallows outside of the jail cells in the small courtyard where prisoners got their exercise:
There were a few great costumed actors/guides that took us through different parts of the museum, representing different ages of the prison and how criminals were handled. Seriously creepy, depressing, and fascinating all at once. The kids did pretty well considering it wasn't a very feel good and pleasant place to be. This prison had an actual oubliette. Shudder.

Tessa is obviously done here:

The kids did leave with a balloon. Because a balloon that says "crime and punishment" on it doesn't seem odd to anyone but me, I suppose. As balloons always do in my house, these later led to child drama, including a window escapee and plenty of tears.

So, we were on to Chatsworth house in Derbyshire. Pride and Prejudice movie lovers, check it out! Part of the outside of the manor/house/mansion estate was under construction, but we got to see everything inside. There was a fair going on nearby, but we stuck to the house.

Honestly, I loved going through this "house", but I don't think I've ever seen a more garish place in my life. Again, I couldn't picture a real person living here, but the Duke and others more than managed it. I haven't included many pictures, but you get the idea.

Cole yelled out that he wanted cake when we went through this dining room.

A study or library? This was a room I wanted to explore a little more. The velvet rope said no.
Ashley took several of the pictures I've been using, like this next one. I just wanted to point out that I really like it. It was taken in the statue room (there were statues all over the house, but this room was dedicated to them.)
The Duke.
Here we are out back before strolling in the gardens.
There were some odd pieces of art around, but overall the grounds were lovely.
My friend. I think the world of this lady.
One of the modern pieces on display. I call it Giant Stuck in the Ground or This Biggie Piggie.
On our way out, because of the fair, I'm sure, there was an air show. And what a cool air show it was! It started out with two stunt planes and then went to one. It was insane. Cole was shouting "Brabo! Airplanes!" And I would lose my breath when the one stunt plane would turn off its engine and free fall for a while before starting again.
We started the drive back to Ashley and John's, and what a pretty drive through Derbyshire. We stopped for dinner and then pushed on. It was a little late when we got back, but the kids were promised a viewing of Robin Hood before bed, so jammies and a movie while the kids crashed.

I've been on a couple really fun road trips, but this one ran right past them. We saw everything we wanted to see and much more but never felt rushed or stressed. The kids were tired and had their moments, but were mostly rockstars. You can't ask for better than that!

Day 10: This rainy day we got up and ready for church and had a nice time there and really had a pretty relaxing Sunday after so much running around. We started rounding up our things, we talked, the boys watched rugby, the kids played and probably watched Robin Hood two more times, Ashley took me to meet her hilarious and sweet neighbors, Hugh and Mary, and we put the boys in charge of dinner. I was determined to still try the expired chocolate trifle in the fridge we'd purchased earlier in the week, which was, yes, sour. It's so painful to throw away chocolate desserts.

Day 11: We had the scramble to pack and get to the airport morning. Good things can't last forever, but it was still hard to leave.

We weren't sure how we were doing on time getting to the airport, but it ended up being perfect. The kids did really great on the flight home and were able to lift up the chair arms, flop legs on each other, and get a little more sleep, which means the mom and dad could watch a couple more lame movies uninterrupted.

Getting through customs at DFW wasn't a big deal that evening, and we heard several "Welcome home"s from airport officials --which was nice.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.

Not only was it an incredible vacation, but I hadn't been able to spend that kind of time with my wonderful friend for a really long time. Having our families share these memories meant a lot. I'm very thankful. We feel beyond fortunate to have been able to have this opportunity.

Day 8: Stratford Upon Avon and Nottingham

2011-09-19T08:01:00.000-07:00

We arrived in Stratford Friday morning and immediately found our friend "The Fool". So, we do what comes naturally and strike our own foolish pose.

Some are more standard poses than others....
A main shopping street in Stratford. We arrived at a perfect time. By the time we left, this street was packed. I picked up a Tudor Rose Christmas tree ornament in a fun Christmas shop here.
The birthplace of William Shakespeare.
The Tudor style is just so cool.
An old church on our walk:

Ashley and Jake decided to go into the church where Shakespeare is buried to see his final resting place and snap some pictures. I opted to stay out in the gorgeous weather in the graveyard. The girls played hide and seek among the gravestones after handing out heart confetti they found to passersby.
I can't express what a beautiful day this was and what a neat, kind of laid back feeling the city put off. The sparkling River Avon was just a little past the edge of the graveyard.
Here's my Cole exploring. I bought The Graveyard Book to read on the plane and during any down time. This picture reminded me of it.
We then made our way to Nottingham! John and Ash were kind enough to include this in our stop because Jacob really wanted to see the home where his great grandmother was raised. This would be his Grandpa McCune's mother, who worked in the lace factories and whose father was a well established lace maker as well. We mentioned we'd be going to Nottingham to a few people who told us there isn't much there to see, but when you've got a connection, then there is plenty to see. Plus, I actually really enjoyed Nottingham. Maybe it's because I had low expectations, but I enjoyed our time spent there.

Here is the house:

We dropped our stuff off at the hotel and then went to find the Crime and Punishment museum --oooooooh. But it was closed. We were directed to a place where Jake could find more information on possible places to look for family history stuff. The people in Nottingham were incredibly friendly and clearly open to tourism. Ashley told me about a great store called Primark?, so when we saw one, we ran in and told the boys we'd meet up with them soon. Hooray for fun and cheap fashion! That would be where the little girls got their fabulous feather headbands. They were having so much fun trying on jewelry and hair accessories that after they tried these on, Ash swiped them up and bought them for the happy girls.
We bought some Nottingham lace from the tourism info place and then moved along. We made our way over to Nottingham castle, which is a modern castle with a few medieval stones still in place.
Robin Hood in the garden:
Since we were in no hurry, we got a little photo happy on the last night of our road trip. This was next to the castle:Right after, a big group of young men came up and had us take their picture doing the same pose.

And then the kids found THIS statue:

The girls were cracking me up with their loving on Robin Hood.

Ashley took several photos close up while getting the girls giggling, which I'm really happy to have.

On the way back to our hotel:

There was a grocery store close to our hotel, so we grabbed crackers, smoothies, cheese, meats, fruits and veggies, and decided to have a dinner party in our hotel room. The kids were more interested in bouncing around with each other than in in the food, but I loved that they had so much fun with one another.

Day 7: Bath, Lacock, Avebury, Uffington

2011-09-17T19:12:00.000-07:00

Since we weren't finished with Bath, we were up this morning and on our way to visit the Royal Crescent. It's an 18th century Georgian style residential road. Fancy pants livin'!

What a beautiful day.
My favorite family picture:

A much happier Tessa favored us at the Jane Austen Centre. Here you could buy anything from mugs to pencils with "I *heart* Darcy" on it. The girls went through the Centre together, and although it wasn't exactly her home with her stuff, it was still fun to gain some insight on Miss Austin's life and also her time spent in Bath.

Back with the boys and ready to rumble.The city of Lacock was next on the list. The National Trust owns this very cool city. I could not help marveling at the fact that people actually live here.
Several movies have been filmed here, but notably for me are Cranford and Harry Potter bits.

After a treat and a stroll, we were on to Avebury. Avebury has the largest stone circle in Europe, which they figure was constructed around 2600BC. Several stones are missing and were obviously used in buildings very nearby, but you still get the big picture with what is left, along with the banks and ditches.

The ladies are solid. Solid as a rock!
Do you like how I copied Jake's pose so we could be Olan Mills mirrored? Me too.

Apparently the Red Lion Pub is supposed to be haunted. So this is us. Haunting.

Be afraid.
Then on to Uffington to see the prehistoric White Horse! (I'm telling you I'm blown away by how much we were able to see in such a short time.)
We hiked on up to see the horse figure and where the Uffington castle was once upon a time. They figure it was probably made of timber, which would be why it didn't last quite as long as some others, but the surrounding barrows gave an idea of the castle's size.

Dragon Hill --where St. George slayed the dragon. That ticked off dragon let loose some fire on the hill and made it so no grass ever grew back before he kicked the bucket. The girls loved the story about St. George, and I loved Ashley's version where she emphasized George's great decision skills that came as a result of following what his parents taught him.
Cole was definitely on the tired side, but still a trooper.
After getting dinner, we ended the day wiped out at the hotel in Stratford.

Day 6: Stonehenge, Glastonbury, and Bath

2011-09-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

So many pictures, so much difficulty narrowing them down.

This morning, we packed up and headed out on a road trip! The girls were in one car, and the boys in the other. Stonehenge was our first stop. It's so surreal feeling like you've walked into a postcard with a place like this.
Fantastic family photo with me looking strangely taller than usual (or Jake shorter?), Jake's eyes closed and Tessa's odd reluctance to be in a picture:
Happy but tired Cole listening to the tour device:

Stonehenge was one of the places that was a must see on our vacation list. What an incredible place. One third of those huge stones is buried in the ground, which explains how they've stood for so long, but how in the world ancient people moved them around is beyond me --and everyone else.

Getting all four kids to stay still for a picture isn't easy, but I love the attempt series:

We next headed to Glastonbury Abbey. Here is Tessa needing a tomato tossed at her:
There is not much left of Glastonbury Abbey, but what is left is beautiful, even if it's in ruins. That silly, gluttonous Henry VIII had the place gutted and torn apart when he ripped through the country in his attempt to uproot and toss out Catholicism. This Abbey had been only second in the country to Westminster in wealth and status.
What the kids were doing:
I adored this place.

Here is where it is believed that King Arthur and Queen Guinevere are buried. They were supposedly found elsewhere by monks and brought here for their final resting place.

Playing on the ruins:

One of the many reasons Ashley and I are friends:

Next stop was the Glastonbury Tor. However, there is a possible stop on the way that I didn't feel up to, but Jake did. So he went in to see Chalice Well. The well has worked for over 2,000 years, and this particular picture shows a representation of Excalibur in the iron work. Legend says that Joseph of Arimethea came here with the Holy Grail....or something like that....
Next, we started the huge hike up to Glastonbury Tor. These girls did such an awesome job with the climb that I had to take a picture of them flashing their muscles once they got to the top.
Beautiful, beautiful.

A fellow camera buddy took a picture of all of us at the Tor. Ash and I were giggling because we were taking damsel in distress photos in the Tor (I'll spare you and let you believe you're missing out), and, well, he wanted in on it too. I must say Ashley took some fierce photos for him with his hair blowing in the wind.
Down, down, down.
And onto Bath! We didn't have much time after checking into our hotel and having dinner to see much, but we did take a lovely stroll through town.

We discovered that it was the last night the Roman Baths would be open late, and Ash and John encouraged Jake and I to just go through it while we could so we could have more time for other things in the morning. They took the boys for jaunt since they had been through before, and we took the girls into the Baths.

What a cool place. It was too dark to take many photos inside, but I did love it. Those Romans came on in and made themselves right at home with these natural warm springs.

It was really fun to learn about how they did steam rooms and other "healing" baths. This really was quite the place and had actually been buried for centuries until archeologists uncovered it. Can you imagine being part of that dig? It would be like finding an intact historical gem right underneath you.

We were tuckered out by this point, finished up, met the others outside who greeted us with a cupcake (bless them!)

Honestly, what a day. This one ranks as a definite favorite.

Day 5: Camber Sands and Rye

2011-09-15T11:04:00.000-07:00

To the beach! This may be one of the most memorable days for Tessa because she loved playing in the sand and water so much at Camber Sands. It was a little cold, but such a great day.

As a side note, I think it was this morning when in the car driving, with Jake concentrating heavily on the road, Cole was trying to get his dad's attention. "Dad. Dad. Daddy? Daddy?" He was getting no response, so he tried, "Jake, Honey?" I burst out laughing. They really pay attention to us don't they?

Here's our meaningful we-love-each-other-even-on-the-beach shot Ash was gracious enough to take. :)This girl started quite the shell collection.
He just wanted to throw sand and rocks.
The lovely maiden with her lovely sandcastle.
Da boys.The town of Rye (one of the cities included in William the Conqueror's "census") c/o of Jake's phone camera:

The Mermaid Inn circa 1420:

Cobblestone streets made for some trip ups, but they're so quaint (the streets, not the trip ups).

Here's a Norman church we stopped to see on the way home. No locked doors. I just strolled on in where all their regular Sunday stuff was laid out.
I lose track, but it may have been this evening when Ashley took me to her equivalent of Walmart so I could buy some shoes for Tessa since hers were suddenly pinching her feet. We also were able to dine in with some Indian food, which I'd never had. I really liked it. As in, I'd like to have it again. We visited and relaxed with a movie before prepping for our upcoming road trip.

Kent: Days 3 and 4

2011-09-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

On day three we headed to church in the morning. We enjoyed visiting, and like other places I've gone, the members of the ward were warm and happy. Ashley had to give a talk in sacrament meeting, so it was hats off to her for pulling it off wonderfully with company at home and no time to herself!

After church we were on our way to Chartwell --the home of Winston Churchill. Last year I read a biography of Churchill by Paul Johnson and was excited that Chartwell was close to Ash and John's home. It did not disappoint. Here are the girls in a small part of the flower garden:
And then in the vegetable garden where they allowed the girls to pick a piece of chard and spinach. They quickly planned to make salads for dinner, but the leaves didn't make it back to the car.
The grounds were gorgeous. I can see why Churchill found such solace here during the world's turbulence he was dealing with otherwise. It seemed as though he found his grounding in home and family --the best place to find it.
The home itself was also pretty incredible, and there was a separate little building that was Churchill's painting studio.

That evening, after dinner, we went for a walk through the neighborhood to the nearest park. How cute are these four kids, seriously?
The girls got along so well the entire trip and were so cute when they played. There were a couple of mornings where I woke up and listened to the girls chatting and playing and I couldn't help but smile. I probably stopped smiling the third morning and ushered them downstairs so we could sleep, but they really were very sweet together. The boys got along some times, and then some times Cole went on his hitting spree. He had been doing that for a couple of weeks before we left, and I wasn't sure how to deal with it. How embarrassing that he would just whack poor W! Finally near the end of the trip, W started a counter attack with what I can only describe as ninja kicks. It stopped the punching. Cole hasn't been hitting since. Thanks, W!

Cole is still asking now and then about both his friends in England.

Day 4: Leeds Castle. Tessa took this picture --isn't it pretty?

The black swans were not afraid to get in your face and try to get some lunch. Cole loves birds and approached one, only to have it slam him with it's head. Good grief! Cole was in tears and couldn't understand why the bird would be so mean. I guess at least it didn't bite.
Leeds Castle is about as picturesque a castle as one can get. It dates clear back to the 12th century (amazing!) and was the place where Henry VIII tucked away his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. We had a good time going through it. The last person to own it and live there, Lady Baillie, didn't pass away until the 70's when it was given as a historical gift to the Commonwealth. I kept trying to imagine what it would be like to walk through the stone hallways in your jammies to get a snack or something. I couldn't picture it as someone's 20th century home.

That evening, Ash and John were rockstars who watched our kids so that we could head back into to London to see Les Miserables.
Jake and I were fortunate to see Lion King when we were briefly in London last time, and then to have this opportunity to see another show --very lucky. Les Mis is Jake's favorite show, which I had never seen, so he was really excited. It was beautiful. We were on the third row, so we got to see the emotional spittle flying. The voices, oh the voices! Jean Valjean must seriously be one of the most difficult parts on the planet to play. You have to have a heaping amount of talent to carry that off --which he did. Eponine had my heart breaking for her; she was incredible. What an awesome experience and date with the husband.

London: Days 1-2

2011-09-12T12:10:00.000-07:00

I don't really know how to count day one since I think it got lost in the flight shuffle. Our flight was a couple of hours late, so we didn't take off until about 9:30pm on Aug. 25. The flight is between 9 and 10 hours (we were happy that both directions were direct flights for us). The focus for me was trying to get my kids to sleep. Cole ended up on the floor (we were in the bulkhead) where he could stretch out. All I know is that we got there on a Friday afternoon and that I was kind of in a bit of a jet lag haze for a couple of days. So, we get to London: Day 1.

Ashley and her kids were so kind to meet us at the Victoria station so we could get back to her home without getting lost. Getting to the Victoria station though.... I can navigate train stations, but navigating with little ones adds a little bit of difficulty, and then navigating with two big suitcases and a couple of carry ons makes it feel like mayhem. But we got there!

I had seen her house in pictures, but it really is a lovely little British abode. I thought it was fun seeing her neighborhood.

At Ash's house we dropped everything, got a little cleaned up and headed back to London with all 8 of us in tow to walk and sight see.

The London Eye. I have no desire to ever get on that thing. Jake and Tessa on the other hand...

The on again off again rain and sun provided some interested glares with our little camera, but here we are with Big Ben. Tessa was really excited to see this landmark.

Westminster Abbey. Jake and I went through the Abbey thoroughly during the brief couple of days we were there in 2005, so we felt okay about not touring it with the kids.

There was plenty to see while we roamed.
That evening Ash and I went to the local supermarket, Tesco, to gear up for the next few days. Then we crashed.

Day 2

On the train:
We started with Portobello Road and the street market. The place was packed and had a really fun energy about it. So many antiques, food, clothing, etc.

We split from our friends for a little while so that we could tour the Tower of London. Jake was sad when we were last there that we didn't go through, so he was excited to finally go inside.
Tessa would have been in almost every picture posing if she'd had her choice. :)
There were a lot of interesting things to see at the Tower of London. It's just SO old, so the amount of history packed into this place is insane. William the Conqueror was the one who had the first part of it built in 1066. There were all kinds of armor on display besides the stories of prisoners and how they were handled, as well as those who made their home there. Cole liked the swords. Tessa liked the crown jewels. Jake and I loved it all.
While in line waiting to see the crown jewels, Jake snapped a picture of this guy. I quickly resolved to delete it later since I believed he must have either gotten into the guard by the skin of his teeth or he was related to someone who helped him get in. I've never seen an English guard with such shifty eyes and difficulty walking in a straight line. Buuuut we never got over to Buckingham Palace, so he ended up being the only guard we photographed on our trip. :)
In front of Tower Bridge:
We met back up with our friends and strolled across Tower Bridge. Tessa started to cry afterward because she wanted to walk across the bridge. She had the hardest time understanding that we HAD walked across it. It's just a really big bridge.

The first few days were CHILLY and definitely different from where we had come from. However, soon the rain mostly stopped and the temperature was really lovely most the time. It was so nice to be outside so much since we'd been cooped up inside at home with the intense heat.

Also on this day Jake had to pick up our rental car in the morning. And so began his first experience with driving on the opposite side of the car, on the opposite side of the road. Glad it wasn't me.

And Away We Went

2011-09-12T11:35:00.000-07:00

So, before I slam this blog with a barrage of photos, I thought I'd start with some overall info:

We went to England! How amazing is that?!?!

One of my closest friends moved to England last year with her family, and Jake and I said we'd do what we could do get there while they were residing in that country. Because, come on, a cool place to go, great people to visit --not something to miss out on. Several months ago we were talking about our timeline of life events, what we wanted to happen, the order of what we felt was important, etc., etc. and decided that if we were going to make this trip happen, it needed to be now. So we started pinching pennies and secured a flight.

Hurray for the fact that the trip was after the first trimester of pregnancy nausea! I'm shaped like a wine barrel in all the vacation photos, but I'll sure take that over wanting to puke all the time! In fact, I started to feel the baby now and then with the tickly brushstrokes in my tummy while we were in England with a couple of serious thumps tossed in.

About two weeks before we left, Jake and Tessa made a paper chain countdown with the Union Jack at the top. You could say we were pretty excited that the time had finally drawn near.

Today I narrowed the photos down to a little over 300, and I was getting pretty picky. We were gone 11 days and saw a ton. In planning, Ash and John wanted to know what we wanted to see while we were there --we gave them a list of about 5 things and beyond that, seriously, you could be in any town in England and find something historical and/or charming. So, they helped us pad the schedule with awesome places to go and see.

This was an a vacation nothing short of perfect (even with the few tired moments tossed in). Ashley and John opened their home, time, and energy to us, and we are forever grateful for the memories that ensued. More generous (and fun) people would be hard to find.

Here we...

2011-08-24T19:00:00.000-07:00

...GO GO GO GO on an adventure...

Can't wait to tell you about it.

Oooooooh Baby, Baby

2011-08-20T13:47:00.000-07:00

So, I've had a few things I've wanted to blog about lately, but I find that there's one thing stopping me: knowing I need to get the most important post checked off and recorded first. And that would be an announcement (if you haven't already heard). Drumroll, please... ...brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
c/o www.picturesof.net

We will be welcoming the newest addition to our family

around the very beginning of February!

That puts me at about 16 weeks along and happy to have mostly moved out of that blechity blech phase that had me in hiding for a little while. My expanding self is hungry!

We have an excited four year old (who doesn't understand why this will take so long), a clueless two year old who has poked my belly a few times like he's hinting that I need to be aware of whatever is making me grow, and two parents who feel very blessed and excited for the mayhem that will be three.

We find out the sex next month, so stay tuned!

Cole turned two!

2011-07-24T18:33:00.000-07:00

Here's the birthday boy:

At his two year check up, Cole moved himself up into the 14th percentile in weight, and 77th percentile in height. Because he has moved up, there are no worries according to the pediatrician, and he looks like a healthy, skinny boy.

He got a Hot Wheels trike for his birthday, which he calls his motorcycle and thoroughly enjoys pushing the buttons on it. He loves cars, robots ("robop" is what he calls his new R2D2 toy), and sword fights. He talks more and more every day and has really exploded in personality. He and his sister alternately love each other and fight like the siblings they are. The best is when they are making each other laugh.

Tessa wasn't going to have the camera out without getting in on the action. Plus, I wanted to get her in her Vacation Bible School shirt. She attended the week long camp at a local church with a couple of friends and had a fantastic time. They did a lot of crafts --which is right up her alley.
We invited a couple of friend families over for birthday dessert and had a nice, low key celebration. Cole had a good time chasing people with his foam sword.

Yum! Chocolate birthday dessert and Cheetos with friends. Seriously, what else do you need?
Happy Birthday, Bubby. Oh, the joy you've added to our lives! Love you so much.

At the Car Wash, yeah.

2011-07-24T17:36:00.000-07:00

That's right! Scrub that tailpipe!A couple of Saturdays ago we went for a morning bike ride and then washed both our cars. The kids were awesome helpers.

We blasted music, sprayed ourselves once in a while to stay cool, and quickly worked.

Cole looks like a trucker to me in this outfit. 10-4.

In the Summertime...

2011-07-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

...we got sprinklers, we got sprinklers on our mind.

Lesson learned: If I want to turn on the sprinklers when the kids are outside with me, they will run straight into them. Can't say I blame them.

We invited friends over on another evening to play in the sprinklers. It's the only way to be outside and comfortable AND I can water my lawn at the same time.

Fourth of July

2011-07-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

The morning of the fourth, we headed over to what had to be the busiest church flag raising/pancake breakfast I've ever been to. And, no I didn't make it to the first five minutes of the event, which means I'm pretty sure I've never been to the most important part of these events. Jake was back in the kitchen helping to flip pancakes like a mad man.

We attending a fantastic BBQ with friends that afternoon. That evening the four of us found a grassy area to join some other randoms who had parked and set up a place to watch the city fireworks. We brought treats and water with us to beat the heat and waited for it to get dark --while we listened to the parked ice cream man's van play "Pop Goes the Weasel" for an hour. Everybody cheered when he finally left.
The fireworks were fantastic. Tessa shouted out as they started, "This is the best day ever!" The people next to us gave the kids a couple of glow toys since we must have looked like the only sad family not to have bought any. :) We were treated to some great dancing light shows from both kids prior to the fireworks.

It was a wonderfully festive (and hot, of course) day.

iPhone April - July Photo Dump

2011-07-20T20:08:00.000-07:00

Courtesy of Jake's phone:The following is what happens when Mom isn't around and Dad is left to his own hair combing ideas.....

Fishing in Utah! This was from our May trip. And can I tell you that we had some seriously yummy onion rings for lunch on the way back? I love small town hamburger joints.

Back to the fishing... Tessa caught her first fish! She ended up catching three on the fantastic Dora the Explorer pole. Cole caught one too. The weather was cold, slightly rainy, and windy, but we were done in about half an hour. Hungry fish, I guess.

I can't seem to get the video at the end of the post moved up, but it obviously goes with this picture, which makes me smile. It's very "my dad".
My paternal grandparents and family:
Grandma R and Tessa touring the high school/work:
While staying with my mom, we bought a couple of foam swords at King's and had a blast beating each other up with them.
Dad's doing, unsurprisingly:
At the cabin/mountain villa:
Check that place out!!!
Playing with Mama (we make quite the totem):
Erica came to town! We met for dinner and went for a stroll in Grapevine:

Fourth of July --waiting for the sun to go down:

So I Don't Forget

2011-07-18T09:39:00.001-07:00

Instead of a "yes" or "no", Cole's responses are "I doooooooo" and "no way".
Every time.
It won't last, but I sure love it.

The Cello

2011-06-30T12:15:00.000-07:00

Before I even had a kid, I'd decided that if I had a daughter, I'd really like her to play the cello. I love that instrument. I've met a few teen girls in my life who rocked the cello, and I have admired them all. Now, I understand that Tessa may not take to it; she may want to play the maracas for all I know. And I'll support her fully in her choice. (I can't even play an instrument --do you like how I'm already pushing one on my kid?)
But a mom can dream, right?
Below is a music video from the Provo based band Book on Tape Worm. The cellist is the daughter of a good friend of mine. When she breaks out the bow for the end of the song..... I'm telling you --I love the cello.

Some Utah Pics.

2011-06-28T13:50:00.000-07:00

Apparently I was a little one sided when I pulled out my camera, and I have no pictures of my side of the family! I believe Jake has some more pictures on his phone, though, so we'll get those and post 'em later.

We travelled to Utah at the end of May before Jake's parents took off the next week on their mission. The schedule was jam packed, and we certainly made the most of those family visits.

Here are a few photos of the park where we had the farewell luncheon (after Gma and Gpa M's talks and the family singing in church for the congregation --yes, me too. The things we do for family.) Also, it was actually sunny. Cousins playing:

Chatting with extended family and friends after downing some YUMMY food.
In between we spent a couple of days at my dad's and then at my mom's and had lovely visits with the parents, grandparents, siblings, nieces, and nephews. I will not let the pictures fall by the wayside next time.

We had a couple of days at a cabin with Jake's side of the family. I called it a villa instead of a cabin, it was that amazing. No phones or computers --I loved it. We had such a good time.

I needed this trip so badly to step away and clear my mind. I came home refreshed so I could keep on keepin' on with Jubilee.

Our whole family needed it, even if it was freezing cold.

Highlights besides the general visits: the kids catching their first fish, movie night, Dutch the creepy full service gas station attendant, long quality chats, games, fry sauce, cousins and grands taking care of the kids, walks, Memorial Day in the rain, BBQ's, curling up on a chair to read in a cabin in the mountains.

Aaaaaand done!

2011-06-28T13:43:00.000-07:00

Sunday evening (stake youth testimony meeting) marked the end of that great big Jubilee weekend. It was everything it was supposed to and needed to be for those teens and even the adults involved. What a cool experience --a blessing to have been a part of and to learn from in every facet.

I cried way more this weekend than I thought was possible --in a good way.

Love those youth.

Fun in the Sun

2011-06-13T09:15:00.000-07:00

Cowboy

2011-06-13T09:10:00.000-07:00

Easter --that's right, Easter.

2011-06-12T17:31:00.000-07:00

We kinda lazed out on having our own egg hunt for Easter this year, so thank goodness our kids were able to participate in two of them on the account of friends. Here we are rewinding to Saturday, April 23. The kids have on a t-shirt from the Easter Bunny, but I'm not sure we got pictures with the baskets! I'll have to check Jake's phone.
We had been in sick kid lock down mode for at least a week when we were invited to this neighborhood egg hunt at a park. We had the occasional nasty sounding cough, and Cole was battling goopy eyes. I figured we wouldn't breathe on or touch anybody at the park, but we had to get out to do SOMETHING. And candy filled eggs --seriously, who can pass those up? Not us.

The kids were gearing up for an egg race. Tessa held hers tightly on the spoon the whole race and thought she won in her age division, so she apparently didn't listen to the rules. :)

Poor Cole's eyes! He looked terrible. Holding him down every few hours for eye drops would not be either of our fondest memories. He was happy to be outside, but he wanted to be doing his own thing.

Big sister is trying for a happy Easter pose. Not gonna happen.
He is outta there.

Finally content with his Peep.

The Worst Punishment

2011-06-12T17:15:00.000-07:00

A couple of times when Tessa has gotten in trouble over the past week, she has started crying and lamented that, "Now I'll never get to go to Chuck E. Cheese!"

I don't know where she got that we were withholding a trip to Chuck E. Cheese. We've never been.

Yum

2011-06-03T14:16:00.000-07:00

For the last several months I've really gotten a kick out of trying new recipes. I have a pretty good system going with my family meals, with my two week menu planning, a big list of ideas to choose from, etc., but I was getting a little bored with the list. It's more fun to mix in a few different things than we're used to. The internet provides a gagillion recipes, BUT that doesn't mean they're all good! I have made my fair share of "Well, we'll never have this again" kind of recipes. I don't enjoy those. Choke-it-down food bums me out. However, the "that was a fun change" I enjoy, and the "Hooray! Let's add that to the family cookbook!"recipes make me really happy. I know it all depends on your taste buds, but I like to change it up at our house....with food WE like.

A friend in my ward keeps her weekly menus connected to her blog. She provides links. You can see where the meal is a repeat (meaning it was good). She is fabulous and a good cook. That means.....tried and true recipes......not just my hoping for the best with Martha's FOOD magazine or random online recipe sites. I tried a few of the recipes from my friend's menu blog and found that I was loving meals coming from the same couple of sites. New recipes to try from a credible source!

I must share some. So far, I haven't disliked any thing I've made from thesisterscafe.com.

The Sisters Cafe

Creamy Chicken Taquitos *

Honey Lime Enchiladas * Tessa loves these and calls them the crispy enchiladas. We like to use pork for this recipe.

Crispy Southwest Wraps

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Breakfast Burritos

Sloppy Joes

Mel's Kitchen Cafe

Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches *

Lemon Cream Pasta with Lemon Garlic Chicken too much lemon for our kids, but I loved it.

Penne with Roasted Asparagus and Balsamic Butter

Our Best Bites -the taquitos recipe above actually originates from Our Best Bites. My mother in law just gave me their cookbook, and I'm ready to rumble with it.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with Lemon Poppyseed Vinaigrette -topped with grilled chicken, this is a great summer recipe.

Our Recipe Box's Completos -Chilean style hotdogs Oh my goodness, I never thought I'd like a hot dog so much. We saute the onions and tomatoes.

You're welcome.

Feel free to share any links of recipes that you love....especially summer recipes now that it's HOT outside.

Jubilee -Standing Together As One

2011-06-03T08:31:00.000-07:00

I have been thinking for a couple months about needing to write this stuff down.....but there's a lot to it, so I've avoided it, but as a result, I'm finding that I'm not posting anything else. I am not postponing it anymore!

Jubilee has been part of our existence since October. First, I'll tell you what it is, and then what it has to do with me.

Jubilee is an event that will take place at the end of June at a nearby events center for the youth of my church. The youth involved are those in the Dallas mission (11 stakes), 14-18 years old, numbering about 2000 individuals. It is a celebration of the youth, what they stand for, Texas culture, and everything virtuous, lovely, of good report, praiseworthy, and fun! The big celebrations that have been held recently (they are making a comeback! It's been over 30 years since we've had something like this in our area.) have been for temple dedications. This Jubilee stands on its own, and is the first of its kind in a long time. Through President Monson, Elder Fluckiger instructed the Dallas mission stakes to put this on.....and so it is! The regional representatives have been putting this thing together for at least a year and a half now. The work that has gone into it..... I'm continually astounded. There is no denying, we love our youth.

What it will be: a four day youth conference -great speakers and workshops, a service project, a dance, rehearsals, and then the big event --the performance (three in one day). The three performances will consist of all 2000 youth dancing and singing for an audience of 7500 people for two opening and two closing numbers, then there will be two all girl numbers, two all boy numbers, single stake dance numbers, and special ensembles in between. Auditions were held in the fall for ensembles. A youth recording choir was assembled to record all the music to be piped into the arena. Gemini, the lighting crew for the last Superbowl, will be lighting Jubilee. It will definitely be a Texas sized Jubilee.

On my own micro level, I was called to be the Plano stake dance specialist in October with two youth dance specialists by my side. Each of the 8 wards in our stake called two adult dance representatives and two youth dance reps. I've been in charge of making sure these dance reps. all stay on the same page with one another in teaching. Jake and I were called to be ward dance reps. for our own ward. None of us had any idea what these jobs would really consist of since we'd never been a part of something like this. But I was really excited --because I love dance, I love teaching, and I love the youth.

In November, rehearsals were held for all dance reps in the region to meet with the regional choreographers. Six dances were learned one week, and then we learned our own stake swing dance the next week. It became my responsibility to make sure that the dances were passed along on the ward level as purely as possible when the time came for the separate ward reps to teach in their individual wards/buildings.

The stake and ward meetings started. Our own stake regional rep. -Sister Rast- is also in charge of the opening ceremony for Jubilee. The opening ceremony will take place on the first evening of the Jubilee weekend after the youth have signed in and entered the arena and is a show by the youth just for the youth to kick off the whole weekend. Sister Rast needed help and a committee --Jake and I agreed to help.

We obviously had no idea what this would entail. I will from here on out capitalize Opening Ceremony --because it deserves it.

Each youth involved in Jubilee had to learn 6 dances --the 4 all cast, one all boy/all girl, and then the Plano stake dance. Time was slated for every other week starting in January to be a Jubilee teaching day. Two buildings took the first and third week, two buildings took the second and fourth so that the stake people (my two young cohorts and I) would be able to travel and help.

I helped to prep my ward teachers in December for our first dance and quickly remembered that some people say yes but don't mean it. Several of the ward dance reps. disappeared, adults and youth ----but most importantly, more of them stepped up to the plate. I will always be grateful for these stalwart individuals. They've been fantastic people to lean on.

And so, we started teaching in January. Most of the youth have been incredibly receptive, and like my experience in teaching dance in public schools, so many of the teens (especially males) realized that they enjoyed dancing. It's fun. I love seeing that! Of course, there has been a little resistance along the way in each ward, and you can't force anyone to take part in something they really don't want to do. To be a part of this great weekend, the youth involved have to at least take part in the opening and closing numbers --so, it's saddened me to know that these few youth don't know what they will be missing out on until the opportunity is gone. Very few of them can understand the scale and spirit of this thing, so I've been humbled at the faith most of them have put into the process. They've jumped right in, trusted, and have had great attitudes about it. Amazing kids. I've been able to get to know so many amazing kids. So many of them have had to deal with conflicting schedules and a ton going on at school, but they've made it all work for the last 5 months.

It was in the latter half of January that I was released after three years as my ward's Mia Maid advisor and put in as the new Relief Society secretary. I was torn because I love my girls and the other leaders so much, but I'd still see them in Jubilee rehearsals. I have had time freed up from this change to better do all of the callings I've been juggling, so I can see what a blessing it was. I also had to reach out and ask for help with the kids since Jake and I had to teach or attend some meetings together. The help poured in, and I was able to create a schedule of babysitters. That burden was lifted, and I'll be forever grateful.

February and March continued in my training/reviewing the ward dance reps to teach the next month, teaching my own ward, traveling to other wards, meetings, and our first all stake JAM get together.

There were some odd control issues along the way. Mainly, a regional rep. who had issues with wanting to take over in our stake when it wasn't his/her place. I apparently represented a blockade to this person, and had to deal with some interesting drama. As a result some of it trickled to the ward level. When you get that many personalities together leading a situation with no handbook on exactness, it's bound to happen. I learned so much through it. Sister Rast helped pull me forward, assured me of my job, and told me to move it forward. So I did. I learned not to take things so personally, to let things go a little more easily, but to stand my ground as well. The last couple months have been great with that rep. without any of the previous drama. I'm so grateful, and I feel like part of it is a blessing from putting forth a more positive attitude and trying harder to approach things in the spirit it should be approached --that certainly doesn't mean I haven't grumbled at all --but I've grumbled a whole lot less.

There were several meetings during February and March, a couple of which Sis. Smith and I helped Sis. Rast come up with a final script for Opening Ceremony. This thing got huge. It was supposed to be 20 minutes. We are shooting for under 30. Jake wrote a song. I choreographed a Flamenco dance, a short waltz, and a few other dances and had to take charge of three acts in a 7 act script --acting, dancing, lighting, staging, etc. Jake had to figure out how to get guitar chords written for most of the music (there are maybe 16 songs in the OC) and has been helping the other music leader get the kids ready. This performance has all live music. Eesh!

The weekly OC rehearsals started in April. Many of these my children have had to attend. They've been so good! Tessa loves the teenagers, and Cole is happy when he sees the footballs or basketballs out. The teens have been awesome with them. There are about 120 youth involved in the Opening Ceremony --from all across the region.

Meanwhile, the Jubilee meetings, rehearsals and JAMs have pushed forward from April through the end of May with information exploding all over the place --costumes, tickets, speakers, sets, music, ensembles, rehearsals, etc. etc. I was able to go see the arena with our stake's music specialist and our regional rep. to get a better idea of the space.

The end of May we went on vacation. I can't tell you how much we needed that. I remembered that there was more to me than Jubilee! I missed at least four meetings --and it was fine. Those great leaders I talked about earlier --they easily covered me ....and Jake too. I came back home with a refreshed brain, ready to take on make up rehearsals and our stake dance formation at an all stake rehearsal the next day.

We have two more all stake rehearsals, and then we turn our stake youth and what they know over to the regional choreographers for one more multi stake rehearsal before Jubilee.

The Opening Ceremony has two more rehearsals, and we adult leaders are praying it all works out! Which it will.

The night of OC, Jake and I will go and be on the floor with the rest of the committee making sure it all happens! THEN, Jake and I will come two days later with tickets in hand to watch one of the three big Jubilee productions and soak it all in.

Although it's been crazy, I've seen amazing things happen in this process. People have been strengthened. I've been strengthened! Miracles have taken place --where overwhelmingly huge obstacles have been put in the way, the Lord has removed them. The youth taking part in Jubilee will never forget it, and it will be something to share with their own future children. When it's all said and done, parents' hearts will swell with gratitude that their child had the opportunity to be in this massive thing. And as ready as I am to be finished, my own heart swells with gratitude for having had the opportunity to be a part of this --to learn, grow, and connect. The glow about it is undeniable, and I'm so excited to see ALL those youth stand together as one.

Then, I'm going to have to remember what I did with my time before Jubilee existed.

Kachow!

2011-04-26T07:35:00.000-07:00

The other night the tornado siren went off for just a minute because a storm was on a speedy rampage through the area. Shortly afterward as we were going about our business, there was a sudden BOOM! No reverberations like you usually hear with thunder. I screamed, or so Jake tells me, and dropped the dish I was washing in the sink as I heard Tessa's absolutely frightened screams. She was almost disoriented when I immediately ran over to pick her up and calm her down. She is not easily frightened with thunder, but I could not blame her for the tears on this one. Cole had been on his dad's lap, so he didn't seem bothered. That BOOM shook our house enough to knock one of the clocks off the wall.

And the next day, between two and three doors down the street, next to our alley, we find this:

HOLY COW, right?!?! That poor tree was obliterated by lightning! On the other side of the alley there were charred remnants from where it had been hit --of course I had to go and touch it since I don't remember ever having touched anything that had been struck directly with lightning before. Someone had been hard at work that morning cutting down limbs so that the alley was cleared. The house looked like it was in fine shape. I'm so glad that it was, and that the electrocuted tree didn't smash through a window or the roof or something.

Here's Tessa on the other side. The bark was stripped clean off with the trunk splayed. Crazy, I tell you. The four of us had gone on a walk to see the tree and to just get out. I would have had a family picture taken by it, but Jake is apparently "uncomfortable" with traipsing across other people's lawns. :) So, I grabbed his phone and the girl, and left him with Cole for a moment.

After I made Tessa get her picture taken, Jake and I were still marveling over the tree. Tessa then yelled out, "Daaaaad, you said this was a walk, not a look."

Fine, fine.

Exotic Homelands

2011-04-19T07:24:00.000-07:00

Tessa explained to me that one doll had joined us from "far away in Australia," and the other doll had come from, "far, far away at Home Depot."

I wonder what that second doll's accent sounds like.

Phew!

2011-04-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

I'm officially done reading for the semester! It's been a little crazy making time for it. I am grateful I have a reading partner to share the load, otherwise it would not have been pretty. These grad classes love piling on the reading, which is not always exciting, so kudos to Brittany for listening to me drone.

Now, if anyone wants to chat about "Jews, Culture, and Modernity" OR the Chicago World's Fair of 1893 and other world expositions around that time, I've done my reading --I'm ready for you.

2011-04-16T08:34:00.001-07:00

I went to vacuum Tessa's room this morning and found that there must have been a wild party at the doll manor last night. Several dolls were jam packed out on the patio, but the real fun was apparently in the living room where there was a miniature Ariel, a passed out Belle and Groovy Girl, a pony, and Rapunzel riding an elephant.

I wish I had been there to hear Tessa playing through this one.

And then...
No pumpkins. No bananas. No hotdogs.

They are apparently not allowed.

Unloading the camera

2011-04-06T16:15:00.000-07:00

I think he's got an applesauce with red velvet cupcake facial going on here. His teeth are so funny --he's got four teeth that keep taunting him. Will they come out or won't they, will they or won't they?
"Take a picture of me too!" Never to be outdone. Then she wanted to take pictures too, so here we have the following from her artistic standpoint:

Moving on to my need to have busy hands for a better listening ear during General Conference. General Conference provided a beautifully uplifting weekend. The following project is not beautiful, however. But, it gave me something to do. I bought a couple of patterns for Barbie doll clothes a while back because I was irritated with the Barbie clothes available to buy. Seriously, Barbie should not look ready to go clubbing if she's supposed to be a vet. I loved getting Barbie ready for different occasions as a kid, and I knew that Miss Tessa would get a kick out of new clothes for her princess dolls. I had a couple of pieces of clothing in my Goodwill box that I fished out and decided to repurpose instead of giving away. Did I follow one of the patterns I bought? Heavens no, I am the queen of trial and error. I just went for it.
And it took me forever. And it certainly isn't anything to brag about, but my daughter LOVED it. This bungled dress has been on all of the princesses in the Disney sorority house.
I turned Tessa's jeans into capris and used one of the leg bottoms to make a doll jean skirt. Then I actually did try one of the shirt patterns with material that was much too stretchy, so again, not even close to perfect. And again, the four year old didn't mind in the least.

Here she is posing.

This Christmas dress from Grandma lasted and fit for the perfect amount of time. So, onto the slicing and dicing .....and uneven stitching and picking apart and stitching again.
Princess Ariel was pleased. So was Tessa. Doll clothes aren't easy, but I had fun trying. I will be pulling out the actual patterns and material they call for one of these days...

Excuse me?

2011-04-06T07:20:00.000-07:00

I went out for frozen yogurt with a friend the other night. Nice, right? It was. It was a fantastically peaceful step out for a quick treat with a fun friend. We all need that sometimes.

I had an interesting happening on the way in though that I have thought about a couple of times since. This is what happened: Frozen yogurt place (yum) had a parking spot right in front of it. Great. I was coming from one direction and another car the other direction. I couldn't tell if it was coming or going. I was slightly closer to the parking spot, so I started to pull into it. That's when the other driver laid on his/her horn. I don't mean a quick "excuse me but I was waiting for that spot" kind of a beep, it was a long honk that made it clear that this person wanted to kick my face and he/she probably said a few choice words in the confines of his/her vehicle. Very quickly my first thought was, "Wow. Really? Okay. If you really want this parking spot that bad and feel that strongly that it is rightfully yours, then I will give it to you. I am physically capable of walking the extra 15 feet from another parking spot, so I will. Sorry I have dishonored your family name by attempting to park here." So I backed out, pulled up to the lady in the car and made a gesture that meant, "Sorry. I didn't know whether you were coming or going or that it was that important to you with seventeen possible parking spots all within 30 seconds walking distance," which looked like a shrug and a get over it and let's all be friends look. She looked at me, but the twilight and her tinted window made it too dark to see her facial expression. She was on her phone. My next thought was, "It's a good think Jake isn't here."

There was one point in my life where I would have been scared of this person --stomach wrenched, I would hide. I've hopefully moved on. We were both headed into the same small place, so it wasn't like we could avoid each other. I prepared myself to say, "Sorry! I didn't know you had been waiting for that parking space!" since I was parked and next to her car before she was completely out of it. --and, I'll be truthful --I figured that if I was nice to her maybe she'd feel a little sheepish about acting so aggressively. I was going to say something to her, dangit. But she wouldn't look at me, and she was on the phone, obviously not in a nice mood, in very bright pajama pants. While taking in the scene and approaching the car ready to holler my message as soon as she got off the phone or even glanced at me (never happened), her son got out of the car. He looked like he was maybe 16 and didn't carry himself with the surety his mom did. He made me think of a stereotypical thick and awkward teen boy who spends most of his time in front of a screen.

Mom stomped into Yogurtville.

Son held the door open for me.

My friend yelled out my name and started walking up to me, so I quickly joined her --and he was still holding the door open for us. "Thank you so much!" I told him as we smiled at each other.

I didn't need to say anything to the mom. What would it have done? Her kid was trying to make up for it in the best way he could.

I quickly and as discreetly as I was able told my friend what had happened as we glanced over flavors, and I noticed the boy trail his mother until they got out the door with froyo cups in hand minutes later without ever speaking to each other.

I've thought about what my actions say to my children and what I could learn from this little situation. Even if it's a bad day and there is a "valid" reason to be grumpy --what does it say to my children if I let it affect how I interact with them and others? That it's okay sometimes? It's not. There are so many FUN ways to embarrass my children in the future. I don't want to add unfunny ones by creating unnecessary tension with other people.

I also thought about my reaction and how I should react in general to awkward or tense situations. Being kind without getting walked can be tricky, but it can work in the right frame of mind.

And most importantly, yogurt brings people together! Let it do its work! :) Get off the phone! Talk to your kids and ENJOY treats together, especially if they're still willing to hang out with you.

Travel Mugs

2011-04-01T18:53:00.000-07:00

Passport pic party at Costco tonight. Dinner at the white picnic tables, a saunter down the entertainment and electronic aisles, some eggs and bananas, and the main event - five buck photos.

We are now one baby step closer to being ready for our trip.
It makes me laugh that these pictures of the kids will be valid for 10 years.

Betty Crocker Goes Hollywood

2011-03-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

Sunglasses on your head make Snickerdoodles even better.

She's my helper. She dumped the ingredients in the mixer and bopped around on her step stool to Mariah Carey's Musicbox CD (it's been a looooong time since I've pulled that one out!).

Mzuri Sana

2011-03-23T18:23:00.000-07:00

We had a Kenyan in our home tonight. It did my heart such good! Apparently our decorations reminded him of home, so maybe it did his heart good too. :)

What I'm listening to

2011-03-21T13:48:00.000-07:00

Tessa's playing dress up and talking to herself. I get to listen. She just found her Groovy Girls in the bottom of the dress up box. I asked how they got there, and she explained that they must have been playing Hide and Go Seek. As she's playing....

"And it's going to be very dramatic and beautiful! It's going to be like dreaming."

I took the kids to lunch at The Corner Bakery today. We had a lovely time together. And lovely food.

On the way home, she asked me if we could go to a dinosaur museum next year to see the dinosaur bones. Before I could answer, she said, "No. I don't want to go. I might be scared. Let's go to a mineral museum instead!" Then she proceeded to plan out a trip to the "mineral museum" with all her friends and then explained what they would see in a cave.

The "mineral museum"? Sounds like a party to me.

As the dress up playing continues, she's singing her made up song, "And I've got a thing to saaaaaay. Don't mess the shoes. Baby, baby."

I'm getting pulled in. Time to don the crown because apparently, "Today we're going to the magical castle. Shake your pants because it's tiiiime to go."

I'm gone. :)

Good News

2011-03-17T13:58:00.000-07:00

Grandma and Grandpa M. opened up the mission call last night. As you can see, they are headed toward the historical mission of Nauvoo, Illinois. We were able to share the big envelope opening with the family last night on the web cam. I'm so thankful for modern technology allowing us to participate. We are thrilled for Jake's awesome parents who embark on their LDS missionary adventures in June.

In other news:

Here are a few ways my kids made me laugh today--

+When Cole is ticked off, he doesn't just say or yell "No!", he does it in this Michael Jackson, "Ow!" kind of scream. "Now!" It's funny. I can't help it. I want him to spin and moonwalk after he does it.

+In happier moments, Cole's inward sucking of air laugh and nose wrinkle is the best. I told him to dance with his stuffed dog. He walked in a circle with it and laughed at himself like he'd just told the best joke on the planet.

+Right now he's happily flying his "pane" (plane) through the air.

+Today our power went off for maybe a minute. Weird. Tessa looked at me and asked, "What's happening to us?"

"We're fine, honey. The power just shut off. It'll come back on soon enough," I replied.

She answered with, "We need to buy a new, helpthy house."

+I got Tessa new socks. She thinks she has won the lottery. (Socks with stars on them ARE awesome, to be fair.) She has been so excited to wear her new socks and jacket for the last couple of days and claims that she's "the best girl on the whole earth!"

Mama Mia

2011-03-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Grandma Lori came to see us! My mom. We ate yummy food, we shopped and wandered, we kicked back, we looked at neighborhood possibilities (for her!), we had a Just Dance 2 dance off, we played, and we talked, talked, talked, and more.

It was so good to have her here. Tessa has such a special relationship with each of her grandparents, which is so fun to see when they come to visit.

Here are the only two pictures I took while Grandma was here!

Tessa's massively forced "smile" and Cole's miserably sad teething self. I think three teeth came through while Mom was here. She was so patient with him. He finally felt much better a couple days before she left, so I'm glad she had some fun time with him too.

Thanks for coming, Mom. :)

Get Outta Town!

2011-03-13T19:04:00.000-07:00

I reached a point this last month where I was buzzing on my overload setting. My friend Melissa was starring in a community theater play in Oklahoma and left an open invite to go see her perform. I wanted to, but wasn't sure if I could in good conscience leave everything behind for a couple days, but Jake assured me that I could and I should. He was right. What a relief to be able to step away for a bit-- to visit with wonderfully fun and good friends. It was just what I needed. I came back feeling better equipped to happily move forward. :

Meet Benson:
Benson Blue Eyes.

And this is Mr. Cole showing off his appetite for pizza. (Hooray! An appetite! Eat, Bubs, eat!)
We went to a family fun place for pizza and arcade games. The kids had so much fun and were buzzing in every direction.
Cole wanted nothing to do with me. He ran from game to game to push buttons and see the lights.

Tickets! I love arcades with tickets. I love seeing how much cheap junk you can get from the tickets.

The family on the floor.

I can't believe I was able to hold onto Cole or Tessa long enough to get a picture. :)

Jake and I went to see Melissa in her show that night while Matt stayed back with the kids while they slept. Aaaaaah. A date night. We had, as always, a fantastic and happily laid back time in Lawton. Thank you!

2011-03-13T19:03:00.000-07:00

Getting over and on with it...

2011-03-06T10:08:00.000-08:00

I've avoided loading pictures onto the computer and putting them on the blog because it now involves a couple more steps with the Mac than it once did. I realize I need to get over it --mainly so I can document these two yayhoots. (How do you spell that? There's no way I'm the only one who grew up with that word as part of my vocabulary.)

Grandparents sent some Valentine fun, and these lunch boxes are part of the booty. Lucky kids. We parents got chocolate. Lucky parents.

Okay, so here are a few things that I can remember I've wanted to write down about the kids that I haven't gotten around to....

*About a week ago I was driving the kids home from a friend's house. When we were pulling into the garage, Tessa told me that "Cole is really good at hip hop dancing."

"Really?" I asked, followed by a mumbled, "Do you even know what hip hop dancing is?" Then I realized I needed to seize this opportunity, because the possibilities were too good to pass up. I changed my response to, "Tessa, can you show me what hip hop dancing looks like?" She agreed, stepped out of the car onto the garage floor, and let loose a serious of moves that proved that she did, indeed, know what hip hop dancing was --a four year old version, anyway. Love my dancing girl.

*Tessa worries about dreams. I've tried to make her imagine fun things she loves right before she goes to sleep, which works sometimes, but lately, the approach has changed. I told her that sometimes I sing a primary song or hymn when I get scared or want to keep good things in my mind. She told me she could sing "I am a Child of God". It's become one of my favorite things to walk by her room soon after we've said good night and hear her singing that song with her sweet little voice.

*Tessa got put in timeout. What?! Not Tessa! She doesn't handle the punishment with grace very often, and hates being ignored. She was standing with her nose to the wall crying, smacking the wall, and yelling, "Mama!" to get my attention. Since Cole wants to be big like his sister, he watched her for a minute, walked over to the wall, started to fake cry, smack the wall, and yell for mama. He looked around, didn't see the sense in it and toddled off.

*Tessa's vocabulary....she's so funny...and dramatic. "I just can't take this much longer," or "I can't do this all day," is what she says when she's irritated that I'm making her do something she doesn't want to do. One day she let me know what her "hypothesis" about a certain situation was --go PBS! :) When she says "healthy", she actually says "helpthy", which I love. I told her to get one of her princess dolls dressed because she was tired of being naked, to which she replied, "Oh! There are beautiful dresses in the closet! (of her dollhouse) These are calories and will look ravishing!" She doesn't get all her new words right, but it's fun to hear her try them out.

*Cole loves to mess with things he isn't supposed to --and laughs when he's in trouble. He often climbs on the kitchen table and climbs to get to the computer and manages to open or change a myriad of programs before I can get to him. His skinny self is a lot more physically daring than his sister was at that age....even though he walked later.

*Along with the very basics like "Mama", "Daddy", "no", "ball", "hi/hwo" and "bye", Cole says, "peeaa" for please, "down", "done", "Sessa" for Tessa, "juuuuu!" for juice, "faffle" for waffle, "nana" for banana, "yeah" for yes, "doggy", "mine!", "nigh" for night, "moon", "baby", and a bunch more --since the list is getting longer than I thought it would be.

*Cole loves Baby Signing Time. Miss Rachel calms that kid down pretty quickly. Music CD's came with the 3rd and 4th DVD's, and I originally wondered what in the world I was going to use them for, but the sometimes cranky time of day, mom is making dinner time, is a lot more pleasant when he gets to listen to his music. Sometimes I can get him to sing the Baby Signing Time theme song. :)

*Tessa loves her art projects. She's got a little of me coming out in her though. Sometimes she'll get distressed when things don't look or come out like she'd envisioned they would. However, she comes up with some awesome drawings, color patterns, and ideas and is usually pretty proud of her creations.

Now, don't be jealous or anything,

2011-02-17T10:25:00.000-08:00

but when TLC's "Don't Go Chasin' Waterfalls" came on the John Tesh radio program last night, I let loose the entire rap portion at the end. That's right. I remembered it all.

This goes to show what great things I've kept stored in this noggin of mine over time. I can never remember the best way to get home from the airport, but I've got that mid 90's rap down pat.

Putting the word "rap" in the same sentence as "John Tesh" makes me laugh.

What? Where?

2011-02-10T11:15:00.000-08:00

Just found a googly eye in Cole's messy diaper. Now I'm singing that 80's song-- "I always feel like somebody's watching me..."

Redo Master Bathroom, check.

2011-02-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

After months of redecorating our bathroom bit by bit and payday by payday--we're pretty much done. Yay! Here is a before picture clear back from when we moved into the house --basically I had the same stuff from when I was single.

We have wanted to try our hand at home improvements, and our little bathroom wasn't as overwhelming as other possible projects.

We showed you our tile job, where the transformation began.

Since then, we painted our cupboards black, replaced the 80's vanity lighting, chose a wall color, changed our minds on that color, patched the walls and painted, replaced the hardware, constructed and put a frame over the existing mirror to cover up it's dated edges, and attempted to decorate.

We like it.

Unexpected Holiday

2011-02-07T18:18:00.000-08:00

North Texas shut down for four days because of snow and ice. It never got above freezing, so the ice on the roads was simply too dangerous. Jake suddenly was on holiday with us.

Not leaving the house gets pretty old quick, though.

On the second day, we slowly ventured to the mall. We put the kids in the double stroller and held on, ice skating to the entrance. During our lunch, the power went out because of the rolling black outs the power companies were having to perform. Three fourths of the mall was closed down, which just felt odd.

So, after some play time in the kids' area, it was back home to our fireplace, projects, and movies!
It was ice for the first couple of days, but then some serious snow hit on Thursday. I sent the kids out with their dad to enjoy it. I stayed in and then leaned out now and then to take pictures. Because I've had enough snow in my life. I'm good.

Cole didn't last long once he took a glove off. I feel your pain, Dude. He came in and chowed down on chocolate Goldfish with me.

Yep, those are Walmart bags over my kids' shoes. There isn't much of a point in buying snow boots here when it doesn't even snow every year, and it lasts two days.
Tessa Lee loved making several snow angels, paths through the yard, snowballs, and helped Dad make a snowman. Apparently the snow wasn't cooperating in the packing process, so they kept it small. We'll name the snow midgee Terrence.
I actually felt like I had time to decompress because of the snow/ice week and all of the cancellations that went with it. Now I'm ready to press forward again.

Oh, and did you notice and let loose your best construction worker whistle? She's a beauty, right? We are the proud owners of a fence that stands straight up. That's right. It has ALL of its boards and none of them are rotting. Woooooweeeeee.

Jenny From the Block

2011-02-04T16:45:00.000-08:00

Right before our North Texas freeze, Jenny came to see us! She's fantastic --no way around it.

We went strolling in the sunshine in downtown McKinney. They have a Paciugo's now! Mmmmm, gelato.
I didn't take out my camera the whole time she was there. Grrrr! It's a good thing Jen likes to take pictures. Again, the glorious gelato:
Tessa's foot pop pose:
We went driving all over the next afternoon and walked around the temple for a bit.

Is that blue sky unreal, or what?!

This poor boy. He's got his four front teeth and suddenly decided to have a bottom MOLAR come out on this weekend. He was miserable, and he let us all know it. We did get some of his regular cheerful self occasionally. (No clue why this is underlined, by the way. Irksome.)

We decided to drive by the place where Kennedy was shot so Jenny could say she'd at least seen it. On the turn around there is a pretty good view of the skyline. Jenny snapped these pictures out of our car window. Not bad!

Onto JG's Burgers. I love this place. I've raved about it on here before. It's next to the Animal Cancer Clinic, which kind of grosses me out, but once you get inside, it's forgotten.

Jenny's a Pepper. I think I would be too if my stomach didn't explode any time I glanced at a soda.

This girl let me talk her ear off. Thank you for coming, girl! It was an absolute pleasure to have you.

When Dad Came

2011-02-04T14:31:00.000-08:00

My dad decided it was high time to come and see us, so he took a few days off and came to hang out. We really took it easy, and the kids loved having Grandpa around. There was a dual motive in coming to see us, though, and that would be the wild hogs. Yes. Nasty feral hogs. Dad and Jake were scheduled to go hunting these R.O.U.S.es on a Saturday night --with all kinds of night op. gear, so of course Jake was on board.

I had already told Tessa that when Dad and Grandpa went hunting, we were going to have a movie party where we would rent and watch Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeaqual (how in heaven's name would you spell that?! No matter. I refuse to Google it.) She looked forward to this movie night for a couple of weeks, and I'm happy to report that it was everything she dreamed it would be.

We had a chili quesadilla picnic and enjoyed a movie --complete with dancing at the end. However, I still can't get over the confusion of why the chipmunks would have to go to highschool.

And, this is what Dad and Jake were up to....

It was everything Dad dreamed it would be. Oh, the happiness. Blech. I'm really glad he enjoyed it as much as he did, but, honestly, those things are creepy. I'm not sad we didn't end up with the meat. I've seen their faces.

On to the boots! Here is Tessa sporting a Tinkerbell nightgown and some fabulous Grandpa boots:
Now Cole....complete with a hat from Bass Pro Shop that Gramps got for him.
My lovies:

Grandpa with the kids:

We had a nice visit and were really happy that Dad took time out of his schedule to be with us.

...Also that he pretended to like the terrible new recipe I decided to try while he was here.

Mugshot

2011-01-13T07:23:00.000-08:00

It was hard not to laugh. This girl and markers! I had already taken them from her because she decided to make a design on her furniture. Apparently she saw where they were and got them out a day later. And used them as makeup.
I told her I needed to take a picture so I could show Daddy why on this third strike I had to throw away the markers. He completely understood.....and appreciated the photographic evidence. :)
The thing is, I think she was more upset that I didn't show her the picture than she was about the end of her markers.

She said she was making Cole into a cat. Looks like he let her get halfway done.

Superbowl 5K

2011-01-12T11:36:00.000-08:00

Well, now, isn't that a flattering picture. Eesh.
Oh well, I'm proving I was there and that I finished.

It was cold. Oh my goodness. Cold. Cold. Cold. But it was still great. There were over a thousand people who ran this thing, and the positive energy is infectious.

Backing it up: I was doing pretty well after my award winning run. I started making a schedule for myself and was feeling good about it.

Then I got sick. For a few weeks. If I can't breathe, I don't exercise. And then after that I got spotty about running. It's been cold, I got sick again, excuse #4, excuse #18 and excuse #36.

Anyway, I signed up for the Superbowl 5k in Richardson and decided that even if I hadn't been running regularly that I would go and do it anyway. It was my fault for not being completely prepared. My goal was to beat my last 5k by at least a couple minutes --which would be a breeze for most people, but I don't care.

I beat it by 4 minutes! Hooray! I wanted to puke at the end. But then I got a free Snickers bar and Sun Chips! Plus, my family cheering for me was awesome.

I was really proud of myself. I had been getting down on myself for not being where I want to be in my goals and efforts, but I was reminded again to take it a day at a time and just keep trying. It's okay to keep starting over. As long as effort is taking place, I'm still moving forward.

I came in at 31:22, and my goal is to get to a 30 minute 5k run.

Again, pansy effort for some. But I don't care. Personal goal. Personal growth.

I can do it! One day at a time.

Instead

2011-01-03T12:29:00.001-08:00

We had plans on New Year's Day to rake leaves, paint a couple things for our bathroom, vacuum, and so forth.
Instead, we did this:
We forgot to bring a hat for Cole, but since his sister was watching TinkerBell in the car with Selina, he was fine with this one.

We flew! How cool is that? Thank you Jeff, Liz, Selina, and Chloe for inviting us to join you for one last hurrah. We will miss having you so close by.

Tessa was afraid to let Selina touch the steering stick because she thought it would make the plane take off. She finally calmed down when we reassured her it wasn't going to happen. Cole would make the sign for plane and flying sounds, but he wanted no part in actually getting in it.

Jake was good enough to get a couple of videos of me in the plane. He was way more on top of capturing the moment than I was. Thanks, Jake.

What a fun adventure. Jacob and I both agreed that although we were initially scared at the idea of going up in a small plane, we weren't afraid once we got in the thing. We felt totally safe with Jeff as the pilot. He had each of us try steering the plane up in the air (the set up reminded me of driver's ed, where he still had control over the plane while we tried). I'll be honest --that's when I got nervous. All I could think of was the night before, playing Mario Bros. with them and my killing Mario within the first 7 seconds with my mad skills. I just wanted to enjoy the view, go fast, and do a couple stomach flipping dips --which, happily, we did.

After flying we went into downtown? Justin, Texas for lunch at "The Lonesome Spur". It looked exactly like you are imagining a place named that would look. They had the best onion rings I've ever had. One of the workers brought over half deflated helium balloons for the kids (from New Year's Eve?). The kids loved the dying things. Cole wouldn't touch his lunch after that and was prepared to dig the eye out of anyone who looked like they might take his balloon away.

As always, we had a fantastic time with the Ereksons. Thank you, again.

Christmas Morning

2011-01-03T12:26:00.000-08:00

We had such a nice laid back Christmas morning. We didn't get out of our PJ's until 4pm. Santa came and brought Tessa the doll house she'd been asking for and brought Cole a riding train, big dog, and some Sesame Street toys. Happy kids are fun.

This blurry picture is a little odd, but isn't that doll house awesome? Santa even glued most of the furniture in, and I believe that to have been a fantastic idea. Tessa's Grandpa and Grandma R sent a princess doll collection, so this house became what we like to call the Disney Sorority House.

The web cam visits with grandparents, a yummy breakfast, movies, talking with family, a Just Dance 2 dance off with my husband and more--what a great day.

Christmas Eve

2011-01-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

The center picture was actually from the Sunday before Christmas in their new clothes from Grandma. Lookin' good. Lookin' good.
For Christmas Eve this year, we had a couple of friend families over to celebrate with us. Each family has a daughter Tessa's age with whom she is great friends. We started out our little party with the dads helping the daughters make a mini gingerbread house. Christmas dinner was up next, at which time our ward's missionaries joined us.
Afterward we reenacted the nativity story with the kids. Two of the girls wanted to be queens instead of kings/wisemen and their choices for gifts were a little unorthodox --Is that an Ariel doll being presented I see? Cole was the third wiseman. I made the missionaries be shepherds, who were great sports. Tessa was Mary, Jake was Joseph, and Britton was the angel, with a little help from her dad. Jeff read the story for us. I love this tradition. We sang "Away in a Manger" at the end, which was especially cool because the girls were able to sing along with us for the most part, and it closed this activity with no doubt in my heart as to what exactly we were celebrating.
We then pulled out desserts and a big gingerbread house for excited missionaries to put together and decorate-- Elder Edwards was excited, but he let his companion help a little.
Then we finished up the festivities so that kiddies could get to bed and Santa could get moving.
What a pleasant evening with good people.

Christmas Music

2010-12-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

I've had the radio on the Christmas station for the last week. I have loved it and so has the family. Rock it Delilah! ...even if there are hundreds of songs to choose from and somehow Josh Groban gets tossed in every hour.
My mom and I were talking recently about how there are some Christmas songs that we connect to and love, and some that we feel the opposite about.
I thought about how much I don't like the song "Mary Did You Know?" at the same time my mom expressed how that is one of the songs she loves. Too funny. I am not a fan of the Drummer Boy song, "Do You Hear What I Hear?", and any of the pop Christmas songs by 90's boy bands. Gag.
However --There is a lot of beautiful and fun music out there. I have loved hearing Tessa sing "Jingle Bells", "Santa Clause is Coming to Town" and "Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer", dancing to "Jingle Bell Rock" with Cole, and listening to the crooner style classics. But my favorites that I connect to? "Baby It's Cold Outside" when Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Armstrong sing it makes me smile every time. There's something about Elvis' "Blue Christmas." And then, not so commercial, I love "Still, Still, Still", certain versions of "Oh, Holy Night", and what I've posted above --"Infant Holy, Infant Lowly" sung by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. This last song makes my heart swell with gratitude and my eyes well up just about every time I hear it.
I'm so grateful for this time of year when the whole Christian world pauses to celebrate the birth, life, and mission of our Savior Jesus Christ. May we all spend the day tomorrow basking in the beauty of it.
Merry Christmas.

Can't Help It

2010-12-24T09:29:00.000-08:00

Let's reminisce.
http://marenandjake.blogspot.com/2009/12/are-you-surprised.html
She knows the right words this year, along with several other Christmas songs --which is cute and fun in its own right, but it's just not the same. :)

Flower Girl

2010-12-18T11:19:00.000-08:00

Tessa has been one lucky girl. This is the second time this year she has been able to don a beautiful dress and sprinkle flower petals down an aisle. And, ooooooooh, the wonderful attention that comes from it.

Here she is making her way down the aisle in the actual procession.

Here you can see how economical she decided to be with her flower petals. She dropped only one petal every few feet, no more. And she was irritated with me as the wedding went on (she sat on the front row with me through the long-ish ceremony) because she wanted to go pick up the petals and get them back in the basket.

Brittany (who I have worked/read/recorded for for the past few years) and Phil had a full Methodist ceremony, which was new to me, but interesting. It was a beautiful church and, more importantly, a beautiful union of two very good people.

At the reception afterward. "Cheeeeeeese."

Tessa made a friend --Lydia. They became fast gal pals the night before at the dinner, and made this reception their own.

My dancin' queen:

Tessa's 4th Birthday

2010-12-18T09:31:00.000-08:00

Tessa's friend Hudson gave her a craft project at her party. She loves to paint, so she was excited when on her actual birthday I let her loose on her work of art.

Beautiful!

And then this kid.... you pull out the camera and he automatically shoves his chin in the air yelling, "Cheeeeeeesssse!" Cheese is right. :)

She had to wait until her daddy got home to open her gifts from us. Here is the long awaited, pined for kid umbrella:

Right after presents were opened, Tessa and I had to run to a wedding rehearsal and dinner. Tessa was asked to be the flower girl in Brittany's (my boss? The cute gal I read for) wedding.

The rehearsal ran late, and as a result so did the dinner, so Jake and Cole were unable to join us for that portion of the evening. It was nice to have a little one on one time with Tessa, and Jake admitted it was fun to have one on one time with Cole --since I sent them to get burgers together. At the dinner, they had a birthday princess balloon in Tessa's spot, and they even paused during all the wedding speeches, food, and fun to sing "Happy Birthday" to her. How sweet is that?! She was glowing. "They all know it's my birthday!"

This must have been taken the next morning by Jake. Tessa thought she saw some clouds in the sky and wanted to test out her umbrella.

Goooooo, Cheerleaders!

2010-12-17T11:29:00.000-08:00

I was playing soccer with the kids one day when Tessa decided she'd take a break to cheer for us.

"Hun nana nana nana nana, right off the top!"

Partay!

2010-12-17T08:01:00.000-08:00

Tessa finally had her birthday party a few days before she turned four years old. After planning it out for so many months, I don't think she really cared all that much about what the party looked like. She just wanted friends to come have fun, eat cake, and to toss a couple of presents in there --and a pinata and some balloons.
We ate some dinner, made party hats (well, that was the plan. I see at least one in there...), played stick the nose on the clown (we soon went to a bandana blindfold after the kids were putting the nose in the exact same spot. When they had to redo, the big concern was, "But I can't see anything!" Uh. That's the point.), played freeze dance, pulled a ribbon pinata, ate cupcakes, and opened awesome presents.
That was an insane hour and a half.
Most importantly, she had a great time, and I think the other kids did too.

Making the most of it.

2010-12-13T08:02:00.000-08:00

Jake had his work Christmas party on Thursday. They held it
at the Dallas Petroleum Club. Ooooooh, fancy!
I made Jake take a phone picture of me by the carolers in the downstairs lobby, while the night janitors wondered what in the world the crazy lady was doing --especially since I look shocked instead of like I'm singing.

We had a lovely time. It's amazing what one year can do in making you feel comfortable. Jake works with mostly really nice people.

Right as we left the party (name tag still on), I also made him take a picture of me in the lobby outside of the party. There were Christmas business parties going on all over the floor. It's a lovely place. I wanted to document it, since I don't get to eat a variety of cheeses or as many mini tarts as I want every day. Forget the dinner, bring on the tarts!
I don't know why Jake didn't send the picture I forced him to let me take of him. Am I the only one with the need to show off getting to eat cheese on the 39th floor at the posh oil and gas club once a year?
Probably.

Even Better.

2010-12-11T08:24:00.000-08:00

I bought a bag of Cutie Oranges. 'Tis the season.

Jacob LOVES these things. So does Tessa, and as evidenced last night, Cole has happily hopped on that bandwagon.

photo c/o The Sewing Bunny

As both kids were munching on their Cuties last night, Tessa said to me, "Mom, you know what's even better than Cole?"

"What, honey?" I responded.

"Oranges."

"No, Tessa. Oranges are not better than Cole. Cole is part of our family. We love Cole."

She paused and came up with something a little more acceptable.

"Mom, you know what's even better than guitars?"

"What, honey?"

"Oranges."

I would say that's debatable, but I will happily take her opinion of guitars as inferior to oranges over her little brother. :)

"I Winned!"

2010-12-09T06:44:00.000-08:00

I've got a competitor on my hands.

photo c/o sweatyguineapig.com

EARLY this morning I heard a frantic scream coming from Tessa. I forced myself out of the dream I was having and stumbled into her room. She was sobbing, so I put my arms around her to comfort her. "It's alright, Sweetie. You're okay."

"I have to tell you my dream," she got out with difficulty.

"Just relax and go back to sleep."

"No. I have to tell you my dream."

"Okay," I replied, realizing I wasn't getting back to bed until I heard the horror that currently racked her soul.

In between sobs she explained, "Dad and Cole were eating fast. And I was eating slow." She finished with a good cry as I hugged her and told her she was alright. She calmed down enough to go back to sleep for a little while.

That girl.

Everything is a competition. Usually it's a game no one knew they were playing until she's rubbing it in your face sing song style with, "I winned! You missed!" It's not pretty if I try to pull the same thing with a game she didn't know she was involved in. "I'm not playing that game!" There are also times when her drive comes out in an actual game.

She does not take losing well --most 4 year olds don't. But she makes it obvious that she wants to do it all faster than anyone else. Her father fully admits that she must get the competitive gene from him, because if any of you have ever seen me play a sport.... well, let's just say if I ever was competitive, I had to let that one go waaaaay back if I wanted to keep my self esteem in tact.

Tessa's Grandma M gave her Candyland for her birthday. She announced before every game that she was going to win, and the whining would start if she thought there was a possibility she wouldn't. After winning the first time, and then the second time, Grandma gave her a talk about what we do if we don't win. Tessa nodded and agreed that we shouldn't cry or be mad, but after a moment's hesitation she added, "But I always win." And, dangit, she does always win Candyland --fair and square. She might have her dad's luck too, but one of these days it's going to run out on Candyland and we'll see how it goes.

So, back to the "nightmare". What we find scary is relative to our own experience. I might not understand this one, but I remember a couple years ago hearing her crying in her sleep, running to find out what was wrong, and then hearing her sob, "My cookie." Someone taking my treat? --that's a nightmare I can relate to.

I'm learning that this competitive nature may be here to stay. I'm fine with that as long I can teach her how to be a gracious loser....and a gracious winner. One day she'll figure out how where she wants to channel this intensity. I'm excited to watch.

Can't help it.

2010-12-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

On the way to an event Tessa was a part of, a Pink song came on the radio. Tessa started groovin' to the music and a minute later declared, "I can't stop dancing! It's just so easy!"
Some songs make it that way, don't they?

Fort Worth Black Friday

2010-12-06T07:43:00.000-08:00

We spent our Black Friday hanging out in Fort Worth. First we ate at Joe T. Garcia's, which I would recommend to anyone in the mood for Mexican food.

Cheeeeeeese! This is the face we get lately when we pull out the camera --Bubs gives us an exuberant ,"Cheeeeeeeee".
After lunch, we took off for the Stockyards.

Pretending we can get a family picture in front of a big Christmas tree:

Our family visitors:

Grandpa and Tessa:

Honestly, I have no idea why this photo opp. is there (does it scream Old West?), but might as well take advantage of it, right?

Two rodeo clowns in a barrel:

Window shopping at the Stockyards:

If you want a buffalo burger, a cheap cowboy hat, an old Reba vinyl record, and a Southern cookbook from 1994, then this is the place to go.

There was an elderly gentleman country band playing, so Tessa spent some time dancing. I'll have to get that video up a little later since it's on Jake's phone.
Our pal:

Poor Longhorn Cattle. All the toughness gets wrenched out of you when you get decorated like a Christmas tree.
Fort Worth is a lot of fun. They have a main street with Western stores. You know, like with saddles, knives, hot sauce, fringe vests, and 4,000 dollar custom cowboy boots?

Later, back at the ranch...

Grandma brought the movie Annie for Tessa, so we hunkered down, had some Thanksgiving leftovers and cheesecake, and watched for a while.
Jake, Jonathan, and Darcy took off for a bit to the McKinney Dickens of a Christmas that evening, but not before Cole made himself comfortable:

Thanksgiving

2010-12-06T07:30:00.000-08:00

I told myself I was actually going to take a picture of Thanksgiving this year --and I did it!
....And I realize looking at it that I really need to get some window treatments and something up on that wall. Beside the point? --isn't that usually the case with me?

I love getting out the fancy dishes, but mostly I love great company on a great holiday. We had all the traditional foods (after Turkey took a swim in our bathtub to defrost --I wasn't going to pay 99 cents a pound for a fresh turkey when I could pay 29 cents for a frozen one...two days before.) And, I'll tell you what I was most excited about. I made a double chocolate cheesecake. Oh my goodness. It was heaven. It's probably the most expensive dessert I have ever made, considering I had to go out and buy a new pan to make it (springform is new to me), but it was so worth it. It was the gift that kept on giving for four days.

Happy Girl

2010-11-30T11:57:00.000-08:00

Grandma and Grandpa came to town. Grandma took this girl birthday shopping:

The tent and bath time Ariel were part of the birthday purchases. She has had so much fun with both toys. So has Cole, when he can get away with it.

Tessa has been talking about her birthday for at least six months now. She has solidified what she wants, so it's been taken care of for a couple weeks. Then an Oriental Trading Company catalog showed up in the mail. Suddenly she added reindeer antlers and slinkies to the list. I told her that those may not show up on her birthday (or a set of two dozen of them), so when she saw antlers in the dollar section of Target, Grandma came to the rescue on this dream.

But here is a picture of Cole wearing them:

Uncle Jon came too! We were so happy to have him here. Cole loved hanging out with him.

One evening we ran to slurp down some BBQ at Dickies, took a walk around a park lake, and then we made it to the opening night of Tangled. We loved it. I laughed pretty hard at the Snuggly Duckling section of the movie. It's so fun to hear little kids laughing and enjoying a movie along with the adults.

At the park:

This was the day before Thanksgiving. It got to about 80 degrees. What in the world?!? The next day a cold front came in and put things back to normal. That would explain the short sleeves and shorts at the end of November.

2010-11-28T13:55:00.000-08:00

It can only last so long, right?

2010-11-18T07:50:00.000-08:00

This is me for coming up on two weeks now. Except my hair doesn't look that nice. And my sleeves haven't been quite so puffy...or swirly. There must be a limit to how many times one person can blow their nose in a week. If there is, I want credit in the World Record book for exceeding that limit.

Last night I was finally able to get a pretty good night's sleep, thanks to my mom telling me to get some medicine already. (Why it has to come to that, I have no idea.) I believe I'm on my way out of this. Soon, I will be ready to embark on the adventures Tessa included me in today. Introducing this morning's DoodlePro drawing:

The artist informed me that it is a rainbow with lots of colors. Then it is Tessa and me. Tessa has curlers in her hair, and we are watching fireworks. We are standing on the grass with flowers that will, from what I understand, begin soon to float.

Can I tell you how much I love that I have huge eyelashes and no hair?

We Love Visitors

2010-11-18T07:39:00.000-08:00

The Godfreys came to town! And Melissa was the only one coherent enough to pull out my camera the whole time.
We crafted (well, the moms crafted), talked, ate, wandered, juggled naps, talked some more, and then made a wonderfully delicious yet hideous icecream cake.
And Gabe put up with Tessa.
They did collaborate on a performance, which just cracked me up. They walked out to where Melissa and I were chatting and said they were going to do a song. Gabe was on the Barbie guitar while Tessa sang "I am Like a Star Shining Brightly". So cute. Then it was Gabe's turn to sing the Backyardigan's theme song, and Tessa took to the African drum. Cole quickly made his way over to join in on the drum, and we had ourselves quite the show.

Mmmmmmm, peanut butter.

Lake Ray Roberts

2010-11-03T20:14:00.001-07:00

We went camping in October.

Since we've lived in Texas, we had only previously camped as a family one time....... at the KOA in the industrial part of San Antonio. It was high time we got outdoors and enjoyed our camping equipment together again.

We went to Lake Ray Roberts in Isle DuBois State Park. At the suggestion of a friend, we got an equestrian camp site. Yes, we were the only ones without horses in that area. The kids loved seeing them.

We were ready to take off on a Friday evening as soon as Jake got home from work. (The weekend before and the weekend after he went camping with the Scouts. So I'm glad he was willing to sleep on the ground for three weekends in a row.)
It was getting dark as we got there and set up the tent. We had a campfire and did what Tessa had been wanting to do for ages --had s'mores. We had Nutella s'mores, though. It's as delicious and messy as it sounds. Sadly, I'm drooling just thinking about them.

The wind kicked up. I couldn't tell if I was hot or cold in that tent. I don't know if I ever really slept that night. Cole woke up early and was a upset by his strange surroundings. I grabbed him to sleep by me so we wouldn't wake up the other campers and the horses.

Apparently when Jake got up later, he documented Cole's first time camping. And my Halloween pillow.

While Daddy-o made breakfast, these two claimed the camping chairs.

Rain was on its way, and we had to get home; however, we took some time to explore and go down by the lake. What a beautiful lake! We will definitely be going back.

Here's to you, Mr. Dickens.

2010-11-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

Hope you had a happy Halloween, friends!

From: Ebeneezer Scrooge and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, and Christmases Yet to Come.

After sewing and putting costume pieces together, one hour of Trunk or Treat in the dark just wasn't fair. We snapped some more pictures at home so I could feel justified in time spent.

"God bless us, everyone!"

The Christmas Ghosts.
Boo.

She is showing him that he wasn't always a horrible miser...I tried to get Cole to point, but it wasn't happening. (By the way, if anyone wants a hooded black gown, size 18 mos. for next year, say, for a grim reaper or death eater costume, just let me know. What?! I'm the only one insane enough to dress my baby in one of these? Bah! Humbug!)

Us.

"Come here and know me better, man!"

I'm so glad Jake embraces the fun that is dressing up.

More of the kids:

Seriously. Shape up, Scrooge. Or else.

Scare on the Square

2010-11-02T18:46:00.001-07:00

First, our illustrious pumpkin:

Tessa was so excited to carve the pumpkin with her dad. She picked out the patterns and kept saying, "This is so fun!" And then the carving began. Carving a pumpkin isn't exactly a kid friendly activity. She kept asking if she could cut the pumpkin, and the answer was always, "No." I finally heard her say, "This is NOT so fun."

But when the thing was lit up, she got excited again.

Okay, on to McKinney's Scare on the Square. Friday night. Very busy. Candy given out at all the shops. With friends.

Here is my cowboy and princess (Belle):

I love Halloween! Because of her box of dress ups, Tessa was able to be a superhero at a "festibal" the day before and Belle on this day before even breaking out her official Halloween costume for Trunk or Treat.

Snoopy and Belle:
Cole with a DumDum sucker.

"Pardon me, Ma'am."

You can't tell from the pictures how crowded the place was. We spent quite a bit of time in line waiting for a piece of candy. Then I learned that if we mommas stepped out into the street and walked along with the littler ones and let our girls Oliver Twist their way to the candy, that the process would move much faster and prove more fruitful. And it did.

Tessa was so excited about every piece.

Storm Trooper and Jawa! Picture for Dad. Again, I don't know if there was a line. I just sent the girls to sidle up next to those other kids to get their picture taken.

It was a lovely and crazy time.

Cici's Pizza

2010-10-24T15:34:00.001-07:00

Cici's Pizza does pre-K/playgroup tours and pizza making. This may be the best $2.90 I've ever spent. Moms and kids munched down on the pizzas made by the kids, drinks were included, our "tour guide" was super nice, and we were given a cup of tokens for the kids to play in the mini arcade at the end.

Tessa floated out of there on a cloud with arcade prizes clenched in her fists.